


Dancing Cheek-to-Cheek In Hell

by QAtheAuthoress74



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Demon Summoning, Demon/Human Relationships, F/M, Heather is a witch (but I won’t say which one), I haven’t been to church in 20+ years guys, Inaccurate Christianity, JD is a demon, Kinda, Master/Servant, Supernatural/Romantic Comedy, That old hat, Veronica is a medium, Why Did I Write This?, but not like that, jdronica - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:40:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 22
Words: 88,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26667586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QAtheAuthoress74/pseuds/QAtheAuthoress74
Summary: “People couldn’t become truly holy, [Crowley] said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.” - “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett~~~Veronica once thought she was somewhat of a good person before the Heathers dragged her into summoning a devil for a joke. Then said demon does come out of their Oujia board. Now Veronica is saddled with a “devilishly” handsome demon named Jason “JD" Dean who says she’s already doomed for damnation due to summoning a demon, regardless of it being unintentional or not. Good thing Veronica is just as clever with loopholes as she is with forgeries and decides the best way to save her soul (and to prevent other people from falling prey to her new ‘servant’) is by having said demon do good deeds instead of evil ones.JD did not sign up for this nonsense.
Relationships: Jason "J. D." Dean/Veronica Sawyer
Comments: 159
Kudos: 121





	1. Prologue: “Semoc yaw siht dekciw gnihtemos, hhs”

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own either version of Heathers. They belong to their respected creators/owners.

**_September 15, 1489_ **

**_Essex, England_ **

A pair of worn hands, belonging to a woman, grabbed as many personal belongings as she could inside her cottage. She cursed at the poor luck Fate had handed her that day. The morning had started off so well until that small incident with the local farmer and his son. Lilith should have been more observant, but her brief moment of laxity had now cost her freedom and security. The seamstress had lost everything.

“Mummy?”

Well, almost everything.

“My dear hart,” the woman picked up her young son and held him in her arms. She pushed his dark bangs back to look into his eyes. To her they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Of course, she once thought the same way of his-

SMASH!

Lilith held back a curse after rolling away from the cottage’s window to dodge a rock that had been thrown in. She cooed at her son after she saw tears threatening to fall. “You need to be brave for me, my little sweetling. Can you be brave for Mummy?”

The little boy puckered his lips while holding back his tears. He would be brave for her. He would do anything for his dear mother.

Lilith managed a faint smile at her boy before placing him down to collect their possessions and shove them all into a bag. The sounds from outside were getting louder by the time Lilith gathered everything and carried her son.

“BURN THE WITCH!!!”

“MAY THE LORD SMITE THEE, PUTERELLE!*

Lilith found herself cursing a second time for her ill timing. She held her child tightly in her arms before rushing for small door at the other end of the single room house. Lady Luck was being generous as there was no one to greet the fleeing woman while she ran through her small garden and over the fence that was mostly there for decoration and truly did nothing to stop the hares and wood mice.

“SHE’S OVER THERE!” a voice belonging to one of her former neighbors shouted after hearing her trip over a boulder and the upset cries she and her son had uttered.

The activity of witch-hunts increased ten fold after that Kramer bastard wrote that wretched treatise. Everyone who was educated read the thesis, or asked those were literate to dictate for them. Regardless, everyone who had studied that essay did so religiously. But Lilith had no time to dwell on that. She needed to keep running or else they would catch her. Or worse, _he_ would catch them if they ever stopped running.

Lilith Dean would die first before she would let _him_ lay a single hand on her precious child’s head.

* * *

_**September 15, 1989** _

_**Sherwood, Ohio** _

❦ Veronica❦

Veronica Sawyer once thought of herself as a good person. She did her homework on time, listened to her parents, respected her elders, went to bed at a reasonable hour on weeknights, never drank alcohol, never smoked and never, ever, went anywhere beyond hand-holding with her 8th Grade boyfriend (back when she still had one). Veronica was the embodiment of the sweet girl everyone expected her to be. That she expected herself to be. For some reason her image got translated to being the biggest pushover once she enrolled to Westerberg High. The people she once saw as her friends and kind classmates back in kindergarten-through-middle school had abruptly turned into assholes once they all hit puberty.

She guessed after apologizing too many times, and always looking down even when answering a teacher’s question made her an easy target for almost everyone in Westerberg. Nobody was afraid of making fun of her because she never fought back. Not even to help someone else, besides her old friend. Veronica was the spineless nobody that was meant to fade in the background until she was finally freed from that shithole of a school and get accepted to a far superior university. Everything changed when she did finally take a stand and helped someone in need. The person—more like people—in question turned out to be the Heathers: Westerberg’s royal duchesses and Queen Bee. All Veronica wanted from them was just a small respite from the bullying and maybe a free pass to a popular kids’ party.

She should’ve realized what kind of devil she was making a deal with.

* * *

Veronica was having her senior prom in Hell.

Literally.

Everything inside the gym was on fire, like the climax of _Carrie_ , but none of the flames reached her. She was contently waltzing away inside the inferno, enveloped in an embrace with a man made up of …smoke? Veronica couldn’t see his face, though it probably wouldn’t matter anyway even if his entire body were vapor. Around the couple the gym crumbled, but it didn’t do anything to regress their dance. Not even the legion of her classmates faces contorting into monstrous expressions as everything truly fell apart. The walls, the ceiling and the floor collapsed, leaving an empty void in the process. The girl knew she tended to have trippy dreams that only happened after a late night of reading, but even her vision was starting to freak her out. It was only the opportune intervention from her telephone ringing that awoke her from the lulling nightmare.

After reading the clock and seeing it say 1:57 AM Veronica groaned while rolling over and picked up her _Cortelco_ corded phone off its receiver.

“What~?” she whispered in an effort to prevent her parents from waking up. “It’s almost 2 am, who are you and why did you wake me up?”

“What’s your damage, Veronica?” came the faux chipper voice of Heather Chandler. The Queen Bee herself.

Veronica carefully chose her next words before answering, “Normally people don’t ring other people at three minutes to 2-in-the-morning.” _Especially on a school night, Heather,_ she wanted to add the last part, but knew better than to face the Witch of the West’s wrath.

“I need you to come meet me at the corner of Murphy and O’Keefe. You know where that is, do you?” Heather sounded very condescending while asking.

Veronica took the pleasure to roll her eyes, knowing that her ‘best friend’ couldn’t see her. “Yes. It’s literally three blocks down from my house.”

“Wonderful. I want you to meet me, Heather and Heather there in say, fifteen?”

The girl rubbed her right eye and had to pull a strand of her black hair back behind an ear. Heather’s previous order finally caught up with the rest of Veronica’s tired brain. “What? Why do you want to be at Murphy and O’Keefe at Two-fifteen in the morning?”

“Think of it as a little get together. Some good ol’ girl-bonding time. You know you need one of those right now after that little stunt you pulled at Ram’s party last weekend.”

Veronica swallowed a lump in her throat at the underlined threat Heather was implying.

Oh, yes for the last year Veronica was no longer bothered or humiliated and was adored by everyone who once mocked her. It all came with a hidden price tag, though, that could only be paid by what got her into the Heathers in the first place. But when Veronica wanted to say no, let’s just say Heather did not take it well the weekend before. Veronica had been on thin ice with Heather from Monday to Thursday and was only accosted for her misdeed now all of a sudden.

“Heather, Heather and I just want some incentive to know you aren’t trying to pussy out on us for some loser. Again. You still want to fly with the eagles, don’t you?”

If Veronica had any remaining self-respect this would be the moment she would say, ‘I’d rather be back at the bottom of the pyramid with real friends than be a Mythic Bitch like you until Hell freezes over’. But Veronica had lost most—if not all—of her sense of worth last Fall when-

_Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it_. she repeated the line like a Buddhist mantra inside her brain.

“Well?” Heather said impatiently over the line.

“Do you want me to bring anything when we meet up?” Veronica said in a defeated tone.

“Oh, no,” Heather sounded as though she was on Cloud 9, blissful at the fact her little lackey was relenting to her whim. “You just bring yourself over here and we’ll see you in a tick, ‘kay?”

“Fine,” Veronica said, fighting back a yawn.

“I promise it’ll be very, Veronica… By the way you aren’t suffering from any form of hemophilia, are you?”

The ebony haired girl developed a nonplussed look. “No?” That had to have been the most random question any human being had ever asked her.

“Great, see you in fifteen. Bye.” With that said Heather hung up, leaving the interminable dial up tone for Veronica to listen.

She wanted so much to just plop back onto her pillow and maybe scream into it, but knew she couldn’t keep the Heathers waiting. Not even for a second. So Veronica dragged herself out of her bed and walked over to her dresser to pull out a pair of socks, black stockings, underwear and a bra before heading to her closet. She decided to go with her usual blue blazer and gray box-pleated skirt that was probably a couple inches short for school regulations. Not that any of the teachers ever tried to discipline the popular kids for wearing skimpy clothes. With parents rich enough to bribe the principal into firing a teacher for making their beloved Country Club Courtney or Preppy Peter cry, they couldn’t.

After Veronica put on her Friday morning best she softly pulled her bedroom door open and walked down the hallway towards the stairs.

“Veronica?” came the tired sounding voice of her mother. Veronica felt her heartbeat quicken for a moment and almost jumped. She had to think fast and decided to hide inside the bathroom between her and her parents’ room.

“Mom? I’m sorry, did I wake you?” She poked her head out, managing to hide the fact she wasn’t in her pajama pants and nightshirt. At the other end of the hall her mother was doing the same action, only she could see the older woman was still wearing her night attire.

“Did you hear a phone earlier?” she asked her daughter drowsily.

Veronica blinked her blue eyes and had no choice but to lie in order for her folks not to find out about her impromptu excursion after dark.

“I, uh, think that was probably one of those spam callers. Probably some guy in Cleveland trying to sell a new frying pan or something,” Veronica fibbed, finding it sad how easy lying has become second nature to her in the past year.

Mrs. Sawyer frowned momentarily but nodded. “I should ask your father tomorrow if we could ask the phone company to block those out.”

Veronica managed a small smile. “Yeah, that’d be great. I’m just gonna go to the bathroom now. Which is where I’m at.” She chuckled nervously.

“Right, sorry, honey. I’ll see you in the morning, okay? Love you.”

  
  
“Love you too, Mom.” Veronica said sincerely before her parent went back to bed and closed the door. She let out a small sigh after making a show of going to the bathroom and then carefully went down the stairs, through the living room and then to the front door, but almost forgot to lock it on her way out. She walked through the brisk late evening/early morning with a sense of asinine in each step she took. She was halfway down the second block when the sound of wind rustled through the bushes.

_Maybe it’s just the neighbor’s cat?_ Veronica thought, rubbing the sides of her arms.

“Out late again, Miss Sawyer?”

Veronica paused her step briefly to glance over to her right. “I could say the same to you too, Thomas.”

Thomas Connor Phillips was like any normal teenaged boy you would run into two hours after midnight, except for the 19th century American military uniform spattered with blood and an ax sticking out the back of his skull.

Tom had been a First Class Private in the United States army who fought in the War of 1812 against the Indians. He was killed in 1813 after a stray Shawnee hatchet met the other part of his head. Veronica had started to become accustomed to seeing the grizzly image (along with his bloodied ensemble) after seeing him for the eighty-eighth time. Tom was a pretty decent guy to talk to, despite the whole being racist towards Native Americans thing. He claimed he was trying to get over that.

“I am on patrol tonight, young lady.”

Veronica held back a snort. Tom may have been born over a hundred years before her, but he had died when he was only 16. He was physically a year younger than her.

“What are you on patrol for, Tom?” She had learned to humor the ghosts that were the most benign like Tom instead of trying to tell them they were dead. Veronica found out the hard way that not all spirits liked being informed of their current status of un-living. Luckily for her, Tom was either very forgetful of the time she accidently told him, or being in heavy denial. She went with the latter.

“There’s a change in the winds tonight,” the spectral soldier said while narrowing his transparently colorless eyes. The rest of his sea-green form shimmered. Veronica saw that as the ghostly equivalent of a shudder.

“Is that why the rest of the usual suspects aren’t out?” Veronica asked while beginning to notice that the street was unusually absent of the other ghosts she had grown used to seeing once the sun went down.

“Shh, something wicked this way comes,” the ghost boy said, holding his musket rifle in a battle stance. Tom had a fondness of quoting Shakespeare whenever he got nervous. Veronica looked over her shoulder and sighed after seeing whom he was looking at. “That’s not very nice Tom. It’s just Mrs. Sanderson.”

“You think you’re so cute, huh lamb-chop?” a dry voice, belonging to an elderly woman in a bright flowery housecoat that past to her wrinkly knees. A moment later she fell into a deep coughing fit, making one of the rollers in her green perm almost fall off, but it never did.

In life the crabby, chain-smoking ghost lady was a Agatha Sanders, the first successful business woman in Sherwood who owned and operated Sanderson’s Salon from 1964 to ‘83. She had been well passed her prime when she died. Everyone thought she had committed suicide, but Aggie knew it had been murder and would rant to any spirit (and Veronica) that she believed someone killed her via rat poison in a bottle of whiskey.

“What Mister Yankee Doodle Boy over there is tryin’ to say is that something’s bad is about to go down,” Agatha explained through her flat Midwestern drawl.

“Something mysterious and spooky?” Veronica suggested with a raised eyebrow.

“Nobody’s really sure,” the ghost woman said, bringing a phantom cigarette over to her lips, taking a long drag that resulted in zero smoke after she expelled air. “If I were you I’d head back home. Which, I’m actually gonna do after you leave. That Rachel broad who’s living in my home now fell asleep while watching reruns of _Gilligan’s Island_.” Agatha smirked. “I wouldn’t mind it if that hunk of a professor wanted to study me. If you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows at the human.

Veronica fought back her gag reflex and instead mustered up a strained smile. “I’m gonna have to call in a rain check on that. Anyway, I really need to go if I don’t want to be late to meet up with the Heathers.” She gave the two specters a quick wave goodbye and went on her way.

“I get it,” Agatha shouted loudly, knowing Veronica would be the only human that could hear her. “You decided you were tired of being bullied one way and swapped for another. Only difference is you’re now wearing trendier clothes.”

That too close to home comment made Veronica stop her tracks a second time and gave the former senior citizen a displeased glare. “You’re cutting deep, Sanders. You’re cutting it real deep.”

“I’m just trying to look out for you, sugar.” Agatha gave the living girl a commiserating stare. Rather unusual from her customary grumpy demeanor. “I’ve seen pretty girls like you fall to peer pressure all the time in the last seventy-five years. You shouldn’t let the words of one ginger bimbo control your choices.”

Veronica sighed tiredly, having heard that old song in her head so many times before. “Yeah, well, once I have something more powerful than Heather’s seemingly endless bank account, I’ll be sure to clue you in.”

She then left without saying another word. The ghosts didn’t attempt to persuade her again. 

It took her less than ten minutes to arrive at the meeting place and luckily for her she wasn’t the last one to make it. Heather Chandler, the red-haired alpha with a red cashmere sweater on to match was impatiently tapping her high-heeled _Louis Vuitton_ pumps against the sidewalk. Heather McNamara, the sole blonde of the group, had on the school’s varsity letterman only the head cheerleader got to wear over white pants and sneakers. Veronica was starting to feel overdressed after scrutinizing at their outfits. Well, compared to Heather McNamara at least. Heather Chandler always liked to look like she was about to walk down a runway, especially in an expensive sweater. 

She must’ve had a sixth sense and locked eyes with the black-haired girl that was standing at the end of the street. “God, Veronica, what took you so long?”

Veronica averted her gaze for a moment before biting her lip. “I got caught up with some ghosts—from my past,” she added quickly.

Heather rolled her eyes. “Can’t you just say you got held up by your parents like a normal human being?”

Veronica cracked a feeble smile, relieved that Heather bought her lameass excuse. “Yeah, that’s what really happened.”

“We’re still waiting on Heather, though so you haven’t missed much,” golden-haired Heather said while trying to prevent a heavy book from slipping out of her hands.

“Do you need some help there, Heather?” Veronica asked worriedly, walking towards the Heathers across the vacant street.

Heather shook her head. “No, it’s okay. It belonged to my granny and-”

“Finally,” Heather the red said overlapping the other Heather’s words. The headlights belonging to a green _Jeep_ appeared in Veronica’s viewpoint. She had to close her eyes from the bright lights until they were turned off.

The car door opened and out came the only Heather with dark brown hair in a green oversized long-sleeve shirt and acid wash jeans. Now Veronica really felt out of place, even more than usual.

“Jesus, Heather were you busy eating a brain tumor and that’s why it took you so long to get here?” Heather Chandler groused.

The brunette Heather meekly lowered her head. “Sorry, Heather. I got lost on my way here.”

“Can someone please explain to me why we’re here now?” Veronica demanded in an effort to move Heather’s wrath away from Heather. As much as the Heathers got on her nerves sometimes (read: all the time), she wasn’t going to sit back and see them be unreasonably catty at one another.

“You heard Heather say the book she brought along was her grandma’s right?” Heather asked Veronica. When she nodded the redhead continued. “According to Heather, her granny was really into doing some supernatural stuff when she was younger. Like talking to the dead and shit.”

Veronica gave Heather the blonde a flummoxed stare. “Is that true?” She couldn’t decide if she was excited or frightened at the prospect.

Heather sheepishly nodded. “She taught me a lot of things about peoples bodies and auras when she was still alive.”

Veronica’s mind then went back to the very first conversation they had back in Junior Year. “ _If I took a meat cleaver down the center of your skull, I'd have matching halves. That's_ _very important.”_

_That explains so~ much._ Veronica thought, deadpanned.

“So, I came up with the idea that the four of us should have a ghost viewing party,” Heather said, talking over Veronica’s musing.

“Wait,” Veronica said holding a finger up. “You want to talk to ghosts?”

Veronica learned one important thing since she discovered her powers at 13. All ghosts were people who died in a gruesome way or were murdered. Apparently spirits, or loose souls, could only be tethered to the human plain if they died in a traumatic way. People who died peacefully of natural causes automatically crossed over to… wherever spirits went to when it was their time. Unfortunately, since the ghosts left their lives in a horrific way their psyches tended to become warped in the process. Veronica had encountered one of these angry spirits while on the field trip to the town’s local dairy factory back in middle school. The experience drove the poor girl to tears and couldn’t tell anyone what really happened, or else they would send her off to the crazy bin.

Sometimes it was better to leave the dead be and let them approach you on their own terms, not the other way around.

“We’re doing a séance? Really?” Veronica prevented herself from snorting before giving Heather Chandler a look of disbelief. She thought looking dismissive than frightened would goad Heather into changing her mind about the whole thing. “Heather isn’t this the part you say, ‘Playing with an Ouija board was so ‘82’?”

“Don’t be rude, Veronica.” Heather leaned over until her mouth was inches away from Veronica’s face. “Remember what I said earlier?” Heather harshly whispered into the black haired girl’s ear.

Veronica stretched her lips into a strained smile after Heather pulled away. “Of course. I’m so looking forward to tonight.” she said while swinging her right arm.

“So, where are we going to be doing this séance?” she then asked the Heathers.

Heather Chandler smirked, pointed a manicured red nail to her left. “Right in there.”

Veronica’s eyes followed the direction of Heather’s finger and gasped at which house she picked.

**End of Prologue**

* * *

**Q-A** : Sorry if you find the chapter’s ending weak. I wanted to leave on a little cliffhanger. Next chapter will have the séance with our favorite 80s girl clique and the unexpected arrival of a certain demon-boy. That’s when the fun begins.

Terms:

*Puterelle: Originated from France. Meaning a woman of ill repute.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	2. “acinoreV, gninommus nomed fo tib elttil a tsuj ti”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica goes to her first ever séance, but things don’t go as planned and not the way she expected them to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested to know I was inspired by Anidoodles/Miranda Mundt’s Heathers fanart for how I’ve envisioned the characters, especially Veronica and JD. Seriously, if you haven’t seen Miranda’s fanart or read her comic Muted on Webtoon you need to do both.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Mentions of suicide, slight virgin-shaming and a gay joke.

❦Veronica❦

The house Heather Chandler motioned towards was a three-story semi-dilapidated Victorian.

The Dean House. Known more famously as the Dead Dean House by the local children. It was the only house in the neighborhood with no people living inside. Even the homeless stood clear of it, not that Veronica could blame them. Moms and dads everywhere told their kids to stay far away of that house. With its unstable floorboards and uneven foundation it was a house realtor’s nightmare. Hence why nobody lived in it for at least a hundred years, according to the urban legend. And the ghosts. 

“Are you for real?” Veronica looked at Heather with an incredulous stare. “That place is one termite bite away from collapsing.”

“It’s one of the oldest buildings in town. There’s bound to be one or two spirits inside that are bored enough for a little chat.”

Veronica nearly snorted. “I highly doubt that.” She knew for a fact that no ghosts inhabited it.

“Why?” Heather gave her a piercing stare.

“Wouldn’t a lot of paranormal investigators be all over this place if it was?” Veronica smoothly suggested.

“Well, I think it’s worth the good old college try, don’t you think so ladies?” Heather turned her head to look at the other Heathers.

Heather Duke forced a smile. “It sounds like it’ll be fun.”

Heather McNamara nodded with a similar mien. “Just some nice girl bonding time.”

_I guess Heather gave them the same treatment like she did for me,_ Veronica correctly guessed.

“Let’s move those assess, ladies.” Heather ordered, pointing straight to the Dean House. “We don’t have all night.”

The interior of the house was even less charming than outside. It was completely devoid of furniture or other furnishings to give it that homey feel. The broken windows and glass shards didn’t paint a nice picture either. All Veronica could smell was dead wood and mildew. Every step she took caused one of the floorboards to squeak. The four of them found the staircase to the upper floors once they walked down a deserted hallway.

_All we need now is a Great Dane and then we’ll have a full team to solve a mystery_ , Veronica wanted to say aloud. She knew Heather would never let her hear the end of it if she admitted to liking an old cartoon from the 70s. Except for Scrappy. Fuck him.

“God, I can’t believe nobody has decided to demolish this-” Heather Duke let out a shout when her right leg fell through a brittle step.

Heather Chandler harshly shushed her. “Do you want to wake the people next door up, Heather?”

“Sorry Heather.”

“You know, Heather did bring up a good point. About why this place is still standing, I mean.” Veronica said, add the second half when Heather gave her a funny look.

“My daddy says that the old bags in charge of the Historical Society insists that the Dead House shouldn’t be torn down,” Heather the redhead said casually while Veronica helped Heather pull her trapped leg out. “Something about it having a rich history of the original owner who had it built.”

“My dad told me that it was a rich lady whose last name was Dean came from England who commissioned it like when the town was founded,” Heather McNamara revealed, unflappably. “She wanted it to look like the Victorian manors that were all the rage back then. They say the reason the house is nicknamed Dead Dean is because another Dean woman died in it.”

“Very insightful Heather,” Heather Chandler said to the blonde.

“Legend says she killed herself in order to get away from an unwanted marriage.”

Veronica was getting progressively disturbed at how calm Heather McNamara was relaying all of this information. “How much further are we going?” she asked in an effort to change the subject.

“Just one more floor and then we’ll reach the attic,” the Heather in red said.

_Of course we’re going to have a séance in the spookiest part of the house,_ Veronica thought while frowning. _What’s next the cemetery or the hotel with an ancient burial ground underneath it?_

Veronica was so busy in her thoughts that she accidently knocked into one of the Heather’s back.

“Watch it!” Heather Duke scowled.

“Sorry,” the black-haired girl smiled apologetically. As the four girls reached the top Veronica remembered something. “Say is your leg okay? I thought I saw blood on it earlier.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really, ‘cause I could-”

“If I said I’m fine, then I’m fine.” Heather said with finality.

Veronica raised her hands up in defeat. “Okay.” _You try to be nice and this is what you get? Last time I try and do something nice for someone._ She knew right after she said that how much of a lie it would later be.

“Heather,” Heather Chandler chimed in, ending their conversation. “You brought what I asked, right?”

The Heather in green removed the oversized _L. L. Bean_ tote bag she had been carrying and laid it on the floor. She pulled out two packets of those white candles people liked to use in Jack-o’-Lanterns along with a stick of blue chalk and an _Ouija_ board.

“I thought I said white chalk over the phone, Heather.” Heather Chandler glowered in disappointment.

“I couldn’t find any on short notice.” Heather frowned. “My brothers are always hoarding the chalk away.”

“The book doesn’t say which color the chalk has to be,” Heather McNamara said helpfully in order to soothe the alpha Heather’s anger.

Heather rolled her green eyes. “Fine. Let’s get this started. Heather, you set up your book, Veronica, you help me lit the candles and Heather you follow Heather’s instructions on drawing the summoning circle.”

After the _Gucci_ Gestapo Captain gave everyone their military mandates, they went to work. Veronica had finished lighting the last candle in the packet Heather gave her and watched Heather draw up the circle. It was starting to resemble a pentagram encircled with strange letters written in reverse.

“Don’t you think it’s a little weird that your grandma’s book require us to go to these lengths just to summon a ghost?”

“Well, of course. Why would you think it would be simpler?” Heather drawing the summoning circle questioned.

Veronica moved her eyes in a shifty way. “Uhhh, you know like how the ghosts in _A_ _Christmas Carol_ just show up? Wouldn’t be like that?”

Heather Duke scoffed at her. “You’re such a bookworm, Veronica.”

The ebony-haired girl smirked. “Says the Heather with a bigger book collection than me?”

“Screw you,” Heather said with zero bite and with the slightest hint of a lip curling upwards.

What could have started into something resembling a budding friendship moment went south after Veronica noticed an interesting image on the page Heather McNamara was on.

“Wait? Does that page have a demon on it?”

“How do you know that’s a demon?” Heather asked.

Veronica raised a brow. “Because it looks like a satyr with black wings and encircled in a ring of fire.”

Suddenly the blonde didn’t look so smug as before and frowned worriedly. “Uhh.”

“I thought we were going to just try and contact a ghost. You want us to summon a literal demon?” Veronica gave the Heathers bewildered looks.

“It’s just a game, Veronica.”

“Shut up Heather!” the Head Heather shouted to her underling.

Heather Duke winced. “Sorry, Heather.”

“It’s just a little bit of demon summoning, Veronica. It’s not like it’s gonna kill us.” Heather Chandler said, lifting her upturned nose at Veronica, displaying the same threatening look from all the other times. The expression cowed Veronica again into submission. She attempted to make herself feel better by mentally asserting that things like angels and demons didn’t exist. The only supernatural thing in the world had to have been ghosts. The Heathers had to be right about this all just being a game.

Right?

“Are we ready?” Heather Chandler demanded to know. Once the other girls voiced their confirmations Heather smirked. “Great! Now we just need that Ouija board out and sit down.”

The four of them sat down around the chalked up circle while candles illuminated the room, adding more to the already eerie atmosphere.

“So, what’s the first thing we need to do, Heather?” All eyes were on Heather McNamara.

She looked down at her book, scanning the pages momentarily before staring at her friends. “It says the best way to get a demon’s attention is to offer it an offering.”

“Please don’t tell me Heather has a dead goat in her bag that we’re going to use for a sacrifice,” Veronica partially joked and eyed the tote just to be sure there were no signs of blood on the fabric.

Heather McNamara giggled. “No, that would be absolutely barbaric, Ronnie.”

“Oh,” Veronica let out a small sigh of relief.

“We just need someone’s blood.”

And just like that Veronica inhaled a deep gulp of air.

_Blood?_ She thought warily. The girl was perfectly fine with seeing blood on Tom’s clothing since it wasn’t really there anymore, but actual real blood? She easily got squeamish even when watching horror movies and even knowing the filmmakers only used fake blood.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to blow up chunks on us,” Heather Chandler said diminishingly. She pointed to Heather Duke. “We have Miss Bulimia over here for that.”

The green wearing Heather lowered her head, looking rightfully debased.

Veronica frowned deeply. “Do you really have to say things like that?”

“Only when they’re true. Now be a good girl and give us some of your blood.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Veronica waved her arms. “The reason you asked if I had clouting issues earlier is because you want me to bleed onto that?” She gestured to the pentagram.

“Heather’s book says we need the blood of a **virgin** and well… I know for a fact Heather, Heather and I aren’t while you, not so much.” The Heathers all exchanged Cheshire grins, appearing very haughty at their accomplishments.

Veronica’s ears and face felt very warm as a new wave of humiliation rolled into her.

“This is ridiculous. We shouldn’t have to do this,” she attempted to protest.

“Why?” Heather Chandler asked with bite.

_Because I can just go down the street and chat with my two ghost neighbors without needing to do a séance ala_ Beetlejuice, _bitch._ Veronica thought but knew better to say. The Heathers all believed this was just some dumb joke. She would never live it down if they found out and dismissed her as a lying freak. No one would believe her in a million years.

“Just do it so we can get this over with,” she then handed a knife to Veronica. The black-haired girl stared at her reflection on the blade, seeing a truly pathetic seventeen-year-old hidden beneath all that make-up and fancy clothes. Despite becoming a popular since Junoir year Veronica still lacked the true bravado that came with it.

_Agatha was right,_ the annoying voice that was also Veronica’s conscience said. She batted it away before slowly moving the knife’s tip to her index finger. Veronica clamped her lower lip to hold back a cry. She turned her head away to avoid seeing the blood droplet falling onto the summoning circle. Heather Duke then offered her a _Band Aid_ , which Veronica accepted gratefully.

“Now everyone must put their hands on the planchette.” Heather McNamara watched as the other two Heathers and Veronica placed their fingers atop the small heart-shaped plank of wood with a small plastic window in the center.

“I’m going to read out the incantation and you three will try to contact the demon.”

For the rest of Veronica’s life she would never forget the image of Heather McNamara at that precise moment. The blonde held a deeply concentrated look and tightly grasped the book as though it were a lifeline. Then her pupils slowly rolled to the back of her head as she started to speak an ominous chant.

**“Nialp latrom ruo ot nomed emoc.”**

Heather repeated that disturbing phrase while the two Heathers and Veronica continued to press their hands on the planchette. A large gust of wind blew through the attic from a broken window, dousing out every candle, leaving only the smallest sliver of light coming from the moon outside.

_Oh, shit._ Veronica decided that she should’ve just stay in bed. The universe seemed to agree with her because the large burst of wind forcefully pushed her to the ground. All Veronica could feel was the painful blow at the back of her skull before passing out.

* * *

“-ronica?”

“Veronica?”

“VER-ON-I-CA!”

The black-haired girl groaned after hearing Heather Chandler screech into her ear and rolled over. “What the Hell happened?” She felt like someone had hit her head with a cinderblock.

“The wind somehow shoved you down like you were tackled by a linebacker at last week’s game.” Heather McNamara said with evident concern on her voice.

Heather Duke offered a hand for Veronica who accepted it wordlessly. As Veronica rubbed her head she asked, “What did I miss?”

“You were passed out for about a minute,” Heather said while inspecting her cherry red nails. “After Heather finished the chant, nothing happened. I’m totally betting that your little dizzy spell ruined the summoning ritual.”

Veronica sighed, fighting back another eye roll. “Yes, because I intended for that random burst of wind to ruin the séance by violently shoving me to the floor. It was all my fault.”

“I’m glad you admit it,” Heather Chandler said cheekily, earning a glare from Veronica. “That’s why we’re going to try it again.”

“Really?” Veronica complained.

“Obviously your black out prevented Heather from finishing the summoning chant. So we need to do a do-over.” Heather glanced at Veronica’s bandaged finger. “You might want to reopen that wound if I were you.”

For what felt the umpteenth time that way too early morning Veronica sighed. _I normally don’t pray for obvious reasons but if you really are out there God I could go for a_ ex Machina _right about now._

OOO-WEE-WOO!

OOO-WEE-WOO!

“Crap it’s the police!” Heather Duke exclaimed.

“No shit, Heather.” redheaded Heather countered with a scowl. Veronica wasn’t sure if it was directed at Heather or at the situation they were in. “We need to bounce like yesterday.”

“There should be a back door we could use to escape,” Veronica offered, remembering the one off time she visited the house with the neighborhood kids when she was younger.

“They’ll hear us going down the stairs.” Heather Chandler said, throwing that idea away. She rushed over to a window at the other end and opened it. “We’re gonna have to shimmy down the drainage pipe.”

“Oh, but this is like my favorite jacket,” Heather McNamara whined vainly.

“I’ll buy you a new one when the new letterman’s are on sale just get the fuck over here,” Heather harshly whispered.

Heather McNamara sighed sadly as she carried her book and hurried over to the window Heather, Heather and Veronica were currently standing by. Heather Chandler went first, sliding down the pipe with the same skill as a fireman, making Veronica wonder how her fearless leader was so familiar with poles but decided not to think further than that. Heather McNamara was second as she unceremoniously tossed her grandmother’s book, caring less about its wellbeing over her prized jacket, and shimmied. Heather Duke was third and slid with surprising grace, leaving the frantic Veronica to go last and fell right on her butt with all the grace of a pre-school toddler. The four girls barely exchanged glances before they scattered. Veronica took note of Heather Duke heading the opposite direction of where she parked on the curbside but assumed that was intentional. She ran down two blocks south until she could barely hear the sirens and was relived to see that no one was following her. Veronica then walked down the new street and headed towards the one with her house, hoping to finally catch some shuteye and pretend that this whole thing never happened.

* * *

The only two police at the scene were Milner and McCord—not that their names were going to matter a few minutes from now—who exited their _Ford Galaxie_ cruiser and entered the Dean House.

“So, you reckon it might just be another prank call?” Milner asked his partner.

McCord took out a flashlight, handed it to Milner, and then held his gun at the ready. “With the time of year it might, but the lady on the phone said she heard sounds of people up in the attic.”

“Are we sure this place should still count as a house?” Milner frowned, examining a rotting column. “Looks like termites holding hands to me.” His right food landed on a loose board, causing it to creak.

McCord shushed him. “Keep it down. We don’t want to wake the neighbors up.”

“It’s not my fault, it was the house,” Milner defended. The two lawmen made their way through the foyer and down the hall before arriving at the stairs. “Like I said, this place is probably gonna collapse any minute with how many termites and wood ants have been at it.”

“All the more reason to make sure no kids are upstairs,” McCord reminded him as he started to carefully climb up, mindful to avoid steps that were obviously broken. “They might break their necks if they fall from that height.”

“Hope it’s none of those Satanists you keep hearing about on the news.”

“Or some fags making out?”

Milner chuckled. “That would be embarrassing to see-”

The police officer stopped mid-speech when his eyes landed on what he was witnessing in the attic. McCord had become just as mute.

In the center of the room was a large ring of fire. Bright red colors danced along with orange and blinding yellow. What was the most startling thing about it was the fact that the fire wasn’t touching the ground.

“Go back to the squad car and call the fire department!” McCord ordered the younger cop.

Right as Milner started turning around the door that led to the stairs shut before he could leave. He tried in vain to open the door but it wouldn’t comply no matter how hard he pushed and then pulled.

The ring fire started to stretch upwards, growing taller and taller until it was nearly reaching the ceiling. Just as the fire started licking the support beams it shrunk down before disappearing entirely. Gray smoke soon replaced the spot the fire once stood.

Both police cowered as they watched in mild fascination at seeing the smoke dissipate. When it was completely gone they could see that the fire and smoke had originated on a five-pointed star, the same shape that was on their uniforms. When both men took a tentative step forward it concurred at the same moment when the smoke blew over the room, the haze compelling the two men to cough. Just then the smoke was soon replaced with black tendrils shooting out from the floor. The strands were black as tar and just as thick and pungent, but also carrying another scent that smelled otherworldly.

The black sludge enlarged itself before it started to take shape. A four-legged creature made from the mire quickly took the form of a bipedal animal with pointed antlers, sitting in a crouching position. The cops could hear a strange wheezing noise coming from the creature and witnessed it breathing rapidly. Two large wings then sprung from its back, just as black and slimy as the rest of its body.

“Shoot it, Dale!” Milner said to McCord.

McCord panicked, forgetting all of his police training and gun safety, and shot once at the beast.

The bullet grazed the right side of the monster’s face, making it cry out. The alarmed shout sounded less like a dangerous beast and more of a human.

“What?” McCord only had enough time to utter that when the black slime began to warp over the creature’s body and then exploded. Both cops shielded their heads right before the sludge could cover their faces. When they moved their hands away they were shocked to see the whole room coated with the black goop.

“Is this still something we should be handling or go get the _Ghostbusters_?” Milner joked to a degree. McCord simply glared at him but Milner was no longer paying attention to him and instead was pointing wildly with a wide mouth. McCord followed his partner’s finger and gaped too.

At the spot of where the fire, the smoke and then the slime appeared was instead a young looking teenager wearing a black cloak over his bare feet. No older than seventeen if his youthful face was anything to go by. That was where the human likeness ended, however. While he had the hair, fingers, nose, mouth and height of a human, the rest of him wasn’t. The antlers and wings from the creature were now on his head and back respectfully, looking sharper and more profound. His skin was the same sky night black with a short furred texture over his body. The ears were pointy at the tips like a dark version of Peter Pan. What was the most unsettling thing about the being were his eyes. Instead of white sclera’s they were blood red under thin, dark brown snake-like slits for pupils.

Everything about the person’s form defied the laws of nature. The only word the policemen could use to describe the creature before them was… a demon.

The demon slowly brought his hand over to his right cheek, tracing the wound with a single finger.

“Did you just shot me?” his voice was a mixture of incredulity and astonishment.

While McCord still held his gun he exchanged a glance with Milner before looking back at the horned being.

“I’ll give you this, nobody has surprised me like that since 1861. I’m almost impressed.” His slightly jovial attitude gave way to a more serious one. “But I’m not here to play games with coppers.” He then waved his un-bloodied hand over his head and watched as the bemused policemen’s expressions suddenly turned blank.

“Okay, can one of you **fine** gentlemen tell me what year it is?” the demon asked while he conjured up a rag out of thin air and wiped his red hand with it. The wound on his head started to close up by itself as the bullet that was lodged in his cheek fell out.

McCord answered emotionlessly, “1989.”

“Seventy years,” the strange person muttered to himself. He glanced at the two policemen again. “Okay, so I already guessed that you two are Americans, judging from your accents so I don’t need you to tell me which country I’m in. What I do want to know is which state I’m in, the city and street address. Better get to it, I don’t have all night, fellas.”

The demon nodded along with the police as they obediently gave him the information he asked for.

“I’m guessing this should be the part where I erase your memories of tonight and pretend you never saw me… but—but—but,” the demon wagged a finger, frowning, “you shot me.” He glared disapprovingly at the cops. “I really don’t like people who shoot first, ask questions later. Doesn’t sound like good police work. Besides, there’s something about you two that’s off to me,” he said as he walked towards the two men in blue and scrutinize at them, pretending to be thinking deeply. Then he snapped his fingers, having an epiphany. “I got it! I know exactly what to do with a couple of **pigs** like you.”

**“Eniws otni nrut ot uoy rof emit,”** he suddenly spoke in the same frightening language someone else had used in order to summon the demon prior to the police’s arrival. His tone had a far more echo-y resonance while he uttered the incantation.

Seconds later, the demon smirked, watching with unabashed glee at seeing the two men wither in agony as their bodies became smaller and skins turning into light pink and brown respectfully. Two small forms were now shuffling around in the blue police uniforms. The demon lifted the shirts off to see two piglets oink-ing and grunting, sniffing the ground for any food. When the pigs looked up the demon made his best terrifying face, causing them to cry out in fear.

“There, now you really do match your uniforms,” he said with a cruel grin, laughing as the piggies cried “wee” “wee” “wee” all the way home. Or until a butcher found them, whichever came first.

“Okay, now moving onto Step 2, where do I find—Oh, found it.” The demon had been walking around the attic until he discovered the pentagram. He kneeled down until he could reach the small drop of blood at the center. Carefully the demon dabbed the blood off the floor and regarded it with veneration.

“Okay little drop, help me find the one I’m looking for,” he said before sticking the finger into his mouth and felt the blood sizzle down his throat.

_Mmm, Oh. Positive._ the demon thought pleasantly. It didn’t take too long for him find a trace the human left and followed the trail unhurriedly.

He had all morning to find his Contractor, after all.

* * *

❦ Veronica❦

Veronica let out a tired groan. _I can easily put that in my Top 5 Most Embarrassing Moments._ She continued to walk down the street, staring vacantly at the sidewalk in front of her. _Heather better not think that I won’t do anything for her anymore. She definitely owes me a bracelet to lend from her jewelry box. Maybe I can get the one with the orange gemstones on them? What are they called again? Garnet? Or is it amber? Or maybe a sun-_

“I finally found you.” a new voice broke Veronica’s train of thought.

She turned around fast to see a stranger leaning against a street lamp nearest from her.

“Found me?”

“Greetings and salutations,” the person in the shadows greeted congenially, throwing her a two-fingered salute. “To answer your question I found you through your scent. Lavender with a hint of wildflowers?”

_How does he know what my soap smells like?_ “Who are you?” She demanded at the partially concealed man. “Come into the light. I can’t see you.” She already deduced that he was a young man, judging from his rather appealing sounding voice, but he didn’t sound like anyone she recognized from school. Maybe he was from Jefferson or Remington?

The stranger gradually moved into the streetlight, presenting himself as a young man. He looked like he was her age but taller than her by a foot. His frame and waist were thin under the heavy black trench coat over a plaid shirt and jeans, but not at all not frail. He looked like he could run 5 miles without breaking a sweat. The young man’s face with clean-shaven, no signs of blemishes anywhere. He had white skin with a light pink undertone and a wide smile that bordered on a smirk. 

The only word Veronica could use to describe this fine specimen of a young male man was…

_Damn~_ the ebony haired girl thought, her heart rate quickening. She had trouble earlier with deciding if there was something wrong with the young man after hearing the comment about following her scent, but that suddenly became background noise to her.

_Okay who is this tall, mysterious, sexy-looking stranger in a trench coat and why is he following me? Am I still dreaming? I’m still passed out from fainting earlier, aren’t I?_ These and many more thoughts swarm through Veronica’s mind.

“Who are you?” she found herself asking again.

“I’ll end the suspense for you. I’m JD,” he introduced himself with a flourishing bow.

  
  
When he moved closer Veronica could see that the windswept hair she initially thought was black was actually a very dark shade of brown that matched his eyes perfectly.

Veronica tried very hard not to get lost in them while trying to hang on to what little sanity she had left. She was almost too distracted to notice the fake deer antlers attached to his head or the black forked tail dangling between his legs.

_I guess some people are really into celebrating Halloween a month early,_ she thought, doing her best to keep her face on the neutral side.

“Is that two letters or like Jay Dee?” she purposely stretched out the last two words.

“You were right on the first guess.”

“Right so, JD, is there a reason you’re following me?” Veronica stared intently at him just to be sure he wasn’t a ghost but found no signs that proved he was one of the dead. She was sincerely hoping he was just some rando new neighbor she hadn’t met yet who spontaneously decided to have a walk at 3 AM and not a stalker. She was really hoping it was the former.

The man looked perturbed for a moment before going back to his easy-going expression. “I thought you already knew.”

“Knew what?”

“You’re the one who summoned me, right?” Once he saw the confused expression Veronica was displaying he elaborated, “I’m the demon you brought over here to the mortal plain by offering your blood to me? Seriously, none of that is ringing a bell?”

Veronica felt her jaw drop as her eyes widened. A moment later she laughed out loud, letting out a very unwomanly snort, not caring that this weirdo dude was hearing it.

“Really, are you for real?” she asked between giggles while wiping a tear away.

JD threw his arms up and began to pace, stroking his chin and looking back at her all the while. “I just came out of a circle made out of hellfire and brimstone smoke. There were bright lights, I screamed louder than a Irish banshee after I appeared as an abomination made up of black slime. Does any of that sound familiar to you?”

“I was long gone when we heard a police siren,” she thumbed at the opposite direction she had been walking, as though that would have been a good enough explanation.

JD groaned, then rubbed his face with both hands. “Well, there goes my big grand entrance.”

“You can’t just do it again so I could see it?” she asked curiously but also had an amused look on her features.

“No, I can’t just ‘do it’ again,” he said with air quotes. “It’s a big one time thing.” He pouted while crossing his arms.

Veronica couldn’t help but shake her head in amazement. “…Wow, how much did Heather pay you to put up this stunt?”

JD lift his head to look at her plainly. “Stunt?” he repeated.

“Yeah, you may be cute and got a nice voice, but I don’t really care that Heather hired some actor to keep this charade up,” Veronica said to him bluntly. “Though I’m sure with the getup you have on you’ll be a real scream during Halloween next month.” She gestured at his elaborate costume, making sure to take note of the antlers, pointed ears and tail. The girl wondered if she could pull off a demon-deer look like he mostly could.

“You think I’m an actor?” the man sounded almost surprised when he said it.

“Look, I’m tired, I have school in four hours, and I’m going to need like two _Tylenols_ to get rid of this stupid headache of mine, so just go back to wherever you came from. Maybe if we met at a more reasonable time perhaps we could-”

Before she had a chance to finish JD expressed a very nonplussed stare before pulling out his right hand and then snapped his fingers. In an instant his light pink skin was replaced with thin black fur. The whites in his eyes turned red while the pupils shrunk into brown slits. Two large raven wings poked out of his coat as the tail end began floating into a large trail of smoky snakes.

His tail extended long enough to reach Veronica and gently brush her cheek with its three-pointed end. The sensation made her involuntarily shudder right after the appendage made contact with her face. She heard JD chuckle and her eyes zipped fast to look back at him.

JD had on a grin this time, displaying a large row of sharpened fangs that were as wide as a Great White shark’s.

“Do ya still think I’m just an actor, sweetheart?” JD asked teasingly before giving her wink.

**End of Chapter 1**

* * *

**Q-A:** Well, I think that’s a good place to end the chapter. Don’t you? ;) Don’t worry I’ll get to working on the next one a while after this one is uploaded. Which I guess means now? XD

Anyway, thanks for all the kudos, likes bookmarks and comments from the last chapter. It makes me happy when people take the time to comment on my stories. It really is the best compliment to my self-esteem. (It’s kinda low, sadly)

References:

I totally borrowed the ‘demon summoning spell’ speak from the concept of how Dark Magic spells are cast in _The_ _Dragon Prince_. It’s a cartoon show on Netflix created by one of the head writers of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. It’s a really great series if you’re into fantasy-oriented stories with a primary focus on adventure and humor. Also the score slaps if anybody cares.  
  
You might also have noticed how the titles of the chapters are written. The first one to guess the names of this and the last chapters (and where they came from) will get a shout-out in the next chapter and I’ll even mention a story you’re trying to promote if you want.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	3. "Sruoy fo reffo lio ekans eht ni detseretni ton m’I"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica and JD’s first meeting Part 2!

✬JD✬

“Well? Still think I’m only a man in a costume?” the demonic JD asked the human standing before him. He stood there, patiently waiting to hear her response.

The black-haired girl gawked at him before letting out a loud scream. She yelled at his face for about three seconds before whipping around and running the opposite direction where JD was facing.

JD could only stare at her retreating form, dumbstruck. He glanced at his body, checked his clothes and then went as far to summon a handheld mirror to examine his face and found nothing out of the ordinary. At least for him.

Okay, so maybe the transformation in front of her might have been overkill—JD knew he was going to get a reaction from it, he wasn’t stupid—but he didn’t expect her to react so sensationally. Maybe the small sliver of humanity inside him was a little hurt by the human’s reaction to his true form, but he stomped that away as soon as it appeared. If the human needed a moment to adjust to having JD around he would allow her that.

_Well, moment’s over._ JD declared five seconds later. _Now, off to find where she ran off._

This time it wouldn’t be as difficult now that he could trace her, but she did run a decent distance from him. He could use some of his reserved energy to chase after her, but he wanted the element of surprise and figured she would hear his footsteps. So he decided to go with his first favorite thing to do right after using his disguises.

JD flapped his raven colored wings three times before going into a vertical takeoff. He flew thirty feet in the air, high above the houses and trees. He didn’t get enough time to admire the new architecture after finding the small but fast human sprinting through what JD assumed was a park. He moved his wings into a silent beat and started following the girl from high above.

_I suppose I can tease her a little while longer._ JD thought, knowing he still have plenty of time left until things became really dire.

* * *

❦ Veronica❦

Veronica was running through Winters Park in at an alarming speed. She thanked it to her split decision in wearing _Converse_ instead of high-heels before sneaking out. The girl just needed to get away from what she saw.

_More like who you saw,_ her mind corrected. _Shut up!_ She internally yelled back. Veronica had no time to deal with any of this insanity. None of it made any sense to her. She always thought the only supernatural thing in the world were ghosts. All she ever saw were ghosts after turning 13. Until tonight that is after seeing what that demon—JD her mind supplied—transform from a cute looking normal guy to something out of a _Lovecraftian_ horror novel. Now she knew that demons were real.

She guessed that meant there was a God now too, along with witches if Heather’s grandma’s spellbook was anything to go by.

Veronica eventually stopped by a gazebo to catch her breath and rested against a beam. As she slowly regained her normal breathing pattern the girl moved her eyes around to see if Mr. Talk, Dark and Scary was nearby. She let out a sigh when she saw no trace of him only to nearly bump into someone’s chest while turning around. Veronica slowly lifted her head up to see the devil, grinning with those sharp fangs of his. 

“Hi there,” he said, continuing to smile like he hadn’t a single care in the world. “I don’t think I caught your name earlier, Miss~?”

The only way Veronica knew how to respond was roughly pushing his chest and making a dash out of the gazebo and away from the park itself.

_I didn’t throw it!_ She had wanted to use as a witty comeback, but didn’t think of it until later. Veronica was really hoping at this point the demon would get the message and leave her alone.

Deep down she knew she wasn’t that lucky.

* * *

✬JD✬

Normally JD liked the girls that played hard to get, but this was getting ridiculous. For all he knew she wasn’t even really playing anymore and genuinely wanted to get away from him. But that made no sense at all. Why bother with a summoning ritual if the Contractor didn’t want to form a deal with a demon?

Maybe it had something to do with the way he was dressed? JD knew better than to wear ripped clothing when meeting a Contractor for the first time. At least all the other demons he knew said that first impressions were everything and one should always dress with a nice shirt and pants when partaking in the interviewing process. His breath? Maybe he still have some bugs crawling in there from his last meal before coming to Earth? No, it couldn’t be that. JD brushed, flossed and everything, including the part where he ripped out the fangs that were getting too worn. Another tooth always grew back a few minutes later.

So, if it wasn’t his clothes or the rest of his appearance perhaps something else was at play here? The girl didn’t appear to be possessed by another demon or a specter so that didn’t explain her erratic behavior. Maybe fairies or ugh-Opposition Forbid-unicorns were involved. He couldn’t stand those single-horned freaks and their vanity for more than five minutes before wanting to gouge out his eyes with his own antlers.

So, yeah, he definitely crossed the whole girl-being-enchanted/possessed-by-another-magical-being theory without any remorse. There was of course the good old fashion direct approach and just ask why she was clamming up and beating it every time he showed up in front of her.

When he did just that, however, she only screamed at his face again before running off. Again.

_Fine,_ JD thought while his patience was growing thin. _If she wants to keep running away from me then I’ll let it. It’s not like she can run any longer._

**~45 Minutes Later~**

❦ Veronica❦

Veronica could have sworn she had seen that mailbox shaped like a dachshund at least three times by now. It was a clear sign that she was going in circles, but wasn’t lost because she recognized the street. That was on the back of her mind, though, as her legs and lungs felt like they were on fire. The girl worried that she couldn’t run anymore and evade that demon any longer. She became even more frightened by the prospect of what he would do now that she was too weak to attempt another escape. Veronica sat against the stonewall in front of a house’s elevated lawn as he heart started slowing down to its regular speed.

She pretended to ignore the telltale sound of wing flaps, knowing what those belonged to without turning around to see.

The enigmatic JD supported his left side against the wall, crossing his arms with a thoughtful expression.

“You know, after you screamed at me for the sixth time I started to get the growing suspicion that you have no intention of wanting to form a contract with me.”

“I don’t want to make a stupid contract with you,” Veronica snapped. “It was all Heather’s idea to do that ceremony. We all thought it was just going to be a joke.” Or she thought so.

The demon held a skeptical look and smirked. “Are you sure about that? Your friends did the ceremony perfectly. Right down to giving the spilt blood.”

“Yeah **my** blood.” Veronica’s hand instinctively went to her bandaged finger, touching it gingerly. “But it was all Heather’s idea.”

“Exactly. Regardless of who planned the ceremony the point is that you gave **your** blood to bring me here, so by all accounts, that makes you my Contractor.”

While the demon talked Veronica used the temporary distraction to look at her surroundings to see if there were any ghosts who would be kind enough to accept an IOU and scare him away. When the ebony-haired girl saw no specters anywhere she glanced at the ground to find something she could use as a makeshift weapon. Two fallen tree branches caught Veronica’s blue eyes and suddenly her mind came up with an idea.

“-without further ado how about we-” Veronica caught a snippet of what the demon was saying as she bent down, picked up the sticks and moved them right over her chest into a makeshift cross. Veronica shut her eyes tightly, waiting to hear some kind of reaction from the demon boy.

A full minute of silence passed between the two. The sound of wind rustling nearby trees was heard.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Veronica opened one eye to see the horned man giving her the driest look she had ever seen someone give her.

“Using this cross to banish you back to Hell….?” Veronica said weakly, not even sure if she could believe what she was saying.

The demon blinked twice before he broke down laughing. The dark brown bangs over his right eye shook from how hard he chuckled. Veronica’s face turned red with embarrassment. “Do you actually believe that will work on me?” he asked while placing a hand over his stomach.

Veronica lowered her not-so handy weapon and frowned. “Well, less than an hour ago I was an atheist, thinking God wasn’t real, but now… Now, I’m not so sure anymore”

“Ha! The only reason a **holy** item works on demons is when the person uses it believes it works on them,” he said in an explanatory manner.

“But I was trying to use it on you right now.” She tried to defend herself.

“Except you still don’t fully believe in it, right? That’s what you just said. The only reason churches, holy water, crosses and all that other Christian crap harms demons is if a person full-heartedly believes those things can work,” JD said further.

“So it’s like _It_?” Veronica said, starting to understand what he was saying.

“It what?” The demon tilted his head, confused.

“It is the name of a Stephen King novel. In it a group of kids fight a killer clown called Pennywise,” she answered. Veronica had trouble deciding what shocked her more. The fact he didn’t know whom Stephen King was, or that she was casually explaining this to the monster that had been chasing her for the last hour. “The kids had to use some makeshift weapons they collected, believing it could destroy the clown before they permanently got rid of it by cutting its heart out decades later.”

“Couldn’t they just cut out the clown’s heart in the first place? No, wait, better question. Who’s Stephen King?” He held an even more baffled expression than before.

Now it was Veronica’s turn to look at him with a surprised look. “How long have you been in Hell?”

“…. Dunno.” He shrugged indifferently. “Is that Da Vinci artist still working on the portrait of that smiling lady with no eyebrows?”

Veronica could only stare at him after hearing his statement.

“Ha!” The demon chuckled right after dropping his introspective demeanor. “You’re a riot. The look on your face was priceless.”

“Ass.” Veronica muttered.

“The truth is the last time I was on Earth was a decade after that Ford guy made those horseless carriages.”

“You mean the _Model T_?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “those were a big deal. Anyway, I was sent back down Below after the _Cubs_ won the pennant. Good thing too since the season had to be cut short with that war in Europe going on. Did that whole archduke assassination ever get resolved?”

“Are you talking about Archduke Ferdinand?” Veronica asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah that was his name… So?”

“His death indirectly led to World War I, one of the bloodiest wars in history which then eventually led to World War II, which had an even higher death count thanks to the Nazis murdering millions of Jews and other minorities.” She was glad she remembered that from her World History class despite getting a C from her latest quiz.

“Nazis? Oh, yeah I know those guys.” The demon displaced a grimace. “We got a ton of them back down Below. Every Thursday their leader with that stupid mustache gets flayed and dipped in boiling oil, 3:30 on the dot.”

“Down below?” Veronica echoed. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know, down Below. The Underworld, the Inferno, the Bad Place,” JD said, listing all the names down with his fingers. “Even an atheist like you should know what I’m talking about.”

“I know that but why don’t you just call it Hell?”

“Two reasons,” he lifted his index and middle fingers. “One, names gives places and people power. The more you use it, the stronger the place or person can get and trust me when I say that down Below has more than enough. And two, would you like to call your home with a title that’s normally used in a derogatory light?”

Veronica shook her head as she tried to relay all this newfound knowledge.

“You sure are fine with telling me all of this?” she asked.

“Why, are you going to find someone and tell what a demon said to you?” he replied in a knowing tone.

“Fair enough,” she reluctantly conceded. “But that still doesn’t answer my question.”

“You’re my Contractor so I don’t see a reason why I should keep mum.”

“You used that before too. Am I really supposed to be forming some kind of contract with you? A contract for what exactly?” She already had half an idea of what it might be but was afraid of what the answer was.

JD hummed in amusement. “You really have no idea, huh? Well, it’s pretty simple. I’m supposed to serve you.”

“How are you meant to serve me?”

“That’s the beauty part, it can be anyway you want. However you want.” he explained. “If you want me to do anything, I can. And I do mean **anything** ,” he gave her a flirty wink at the suggestive connotation.

Veronica rolled her eyes, wondering how she ever found him attractive.

“I can help you get anything you want. Not just **that** , you know. Money, power—magical or political—I could make you the most popular girl in your school. I’ll get you so gussied up that the rest of the girls will look like floozies when I’m done with you, sweetheart.”

The black-haired girl held a very baffled expression. “I literally have no idea what you just said in the last part.”

“Oh, kids your age don’t use floozy or gussy anymore? I guess you probably wouldn’t know what I’d be talking about if I used the phrase, duck soup then.”

“Nobody would know what that means,” Veronica replied in a strained voice. “And anyway, I don’t need any of the stuff that you’re offering. I might not be rich or the most beautiful girl at my school, but I’m fine. I don’t want people groveling at my feet, thank you very much. I’m not Heather Chandler.”

JD took a step forward and scrutinized her, making the girl to take a small step back. “You are right. You don’t look like you need any cash, judging by your outfit.” He then glanced at her face and smirked. “Yeah, I wouldn’t change a thing about your looks, either, doll-face.”

Veronica didn’t feel her face flush after seeing the heated look he gave her. “Don’t call me, doll-face or sweetheart. Ever. I have a name. It’s Veronica Sawyer.” She then bit her tongue, realizing that she blurted out something he could probably use on her later.

“Veronica,” he tested out the name in a slow sensual way, which definitely didn’t give her goosebumps. Nope. It didn’t. “I like it,” he added lazily.

“Well, it’s all you’re getting from me.” She turned around, crossing her arms. “I’m not interested in the snake oil offer of yours. Hopefully, **you** understand that saying.”

“As a matter of fact I do, but I’m afraid that you can’t just say no to what I’m offering,” he said while making his way to stand in front of her once more.

Veronica narrowed her eyes. “Are you threatening me?”

“You have to sign a contract and make a deal with me whether you like it or not.” His expression mirrored hers.

“What if I just keep saying no?” She challenged, feeling a surge of daring temporarily course through her veins.

“Then in 12 hours your soul will be automatically forfeited, get sent straight to Hell while I go on a little human energy harvesting spree since I haven’t had that in 70 years,” he answered in the most offhanded way possible.

The only response Veronica could give was a flat, “What?”

“I have a contract right here ready to sign on the dotted line,” he said further, conjuring a large stack of yellowed papers out of thin air. With a smile he handed her the contract. She nearly keeled over from the unexpected heaviness and yelped in alarm.

“Mind the weight.” His Cheshire grin broadened.

Veronica glared at him darkly, reflecting that if she had just lied to Heather and said she was hemophilic she would probably still be in bed.

**End of Chapter 2**

* * *

**Q-A:** The next chapter will be all about the contract and how Veronica’s going to deal with it while going to school at the same time. I feel like I should put a chewing gum at the same time joke somewhere. XD

I’m shocked no one figured out what the riddle from last chapter was. I’ll give a hint: the title of each chapter can be found in the chapters. You just need to look between the lines, or senil eht neewteb kool to. ;)

References:

JD’s use of replacing the word God with "Opposition" was inspired by Diva from YouTube channel, _Musical Hell_. It’s a really funny and informative channel if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s about this ‘demon’ named Diva who usually reviews bad musical movies. My personal favorite of mine is her review of the _Jem and the Holograms_ movie with the _Long-Haired Creepy Guy_ , another YouTuber who’s hilarious if you get the chance to watch his stuff.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	4. “ehcsroP s’rehtaeH ni gnivird ton era uoy”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica’s morning routine gets shaken up.

❦ Veronica❦

Veronica struggled while holding the large contract in her hands. She had no choice but to lower it onto the sidewalk in order to read what it said. The first five pages she read through were written in an old English scripture that swam through Veronica’s line of vision along with the terminology that she was certain hadn’t been used since the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower. She tried to count how many sheets there were before giving up at the 150th page.

“Why are there so many pages of this stupid contract?” she asked in growing frustration.

“Hmmm, that is a good question.” JD said, slinking his hands into his coat pockets.

“Oh, now you decide you aren’t going to give me a straight answer?” Veronica eyed the demon.

“I never said I was going to be helpful all the time,” he responded with a blank look.

Veronica glared in response. “You better give me some answers.”

“Is that a command?” he asked her while placing a hand never to his right ear. “I don’t have to follow those until you actually sign the contract.”

The girl groaned. “You are really getting on my nerves, you know that? Just tell me how many pages there are. You owe me that at least.”

“Do I?” JD asked only for Veronica’s glower to deepen. “Okay, it’s 666 pages long.”

Veronica gaped in shock. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he repeated in a mocking tone. “I suggest you get to reading if you want to sign before your time is up.”

Veronica clammed up her mouth and pulled back her sleeve to check what time it was on her wristwatch. The time on her _Swatch_ said 3:25 AM. If JD had been summoned around 2:35 AM as he had claimed that mean she had less than 11 hours left before her soul would be taken at thirty-five minutes after two later that very afternoon.

“How can a contract be so damn long?” she questioned in dismay.

“I don’t make the rules. I only follow them… When it suits me.”

Veronica gave him a halfhearted glare before sighing. _There’s no way I can read all of this now. I need to go to bed,_ she decided after yawning mid-sigh.

After she shuffled the papers together the girl then scooped them up and started to make her way towards home. Veronica heard JD’s footsteps behind hers the moment she started walking.

“What are you doing?” she turned her head around to directly ask him.

JD responded with, “Following you. I don’t have any place to stay right now since I just literally came up from the Inferno.”

Veronica pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. “You are not going anywhere near my house, go it?”

The demon chuckled. “Yeah, not sure how that’s gonna work unless you can recommend a good real-estate agent for me at this hour.”

She stopped mid-step, turned around and marched right up to him. “You aren’t going near my house at all. Do you understand,” she poked right on to his chest while enunciating the last three words with each stab from her finger.

JD looked momentarily surprised, as if the human’s audacity to touch him was a big shock to him. Then he grinned. “You aren’t like the other mortals, are you?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Is that supposed to be flattering?”

“Only if it works… is it working?” he sounded conceited while he asked that, but also layered with another tone that Veronica couldn’t recognize.

She then rubbed her right temple with her free hand. “I really wish this is all just another very engaging nightmare that I’m having trouble waking up from.”

“Do you get a lot of those?” the demon asked in a legitimately concern tone.

“Leave me alone, nightmare!” she shouted before making a run for it and sprinted down the street until she finally made it to the familiar front lawn of her home.

Veronica could vaguely hear him yelling how her plan isn’t going to work before shutting the front door and retreating back to her room. She shoved the contract on the floor before plopping herself on the bed, disregarding the urge to put on her sleep wear and went out like a light.

* * *

After what felt like only taking five minutes of sleep, Veronica awoke to the sound of her alarm clock. With a groan she rolled over to press the snooze button to shut if off and saw it read 7 AM. She had less than an hour to have some breakfast and get ready for school before classes started at eight. Veronica rubbed her eyelids while stretching with her other arm. She pulled herself up and noticed that she wasn’t in her night shirt and pants. Panic started to swell before she pushed it down.

_Okay, I slept in my clothes from yesterday;_ she attempted to rationalize in her head. _That happens sometimes, no worries._ Even though the logical side of her mind reminded her that the outfit she had on didn’t look like the one she wore on Thursday. She looked around the rest of her room to find some semblance of proof that all the insane events from last night were only a dream. When Veronica’s eyes landed towards the windows her heart stopped.

Over on her desk chair was none other than the devil who called himself JD. He still had his semi-demonic form with his antlers, tail, freakish eyes and fangs that he bared out in that wide psycho smile of his. “Morning Contractor!” he said, waving cheerily at her while tilting his head so it was aligned with the same position as hers.

“What are you doing in my room?” she asked slowly, her rage starting to reach a boiling point. 

“You only said not to go anywhere near your house. You didn’t specially say I couldn’t be ‘in’ it.” His shit-eating grin grew wider when he used air quotes.

Veronica threw her bed sheets off her body and jumped from bed to stand in front of him with a very ticked off look. “Didn’t your mommy ever tell you breaking into someone’s room is a terrible invasion of their freaking privacy?”

The demon’s smile melted away in an instant. His expression turned sour, with his eyes narrowing. “No. She didn’t.” he said it in a way that made Veronica figure out that any subject related to his mom might be a sore spot.

“Did the room just turn ten degrees colder or is that the cold September wind from outside?” she attempted to joke after the room did start to feel colder all of a sudden. Veronica glanced at her windows and noticed that they were closed shut.

_Gulp,_ she thought and performed the action.

JD’s gloomy disposition shifted after seeing Veronica wrapping her arms around herself. He changed his expression to something more cheerful while leaning towards Veronica’s desk and looked at a mirror on the wall. On it were several pictures Veronica cut out from various magazines, most of them being teenage heartthrobs. One in particular had a lipstick mark on it. Veronica felt her face turn red when JD pulled that picture of Christian Slater off her vanity.

The demon had an unreadable expression for a second before he asked, “Is this your boyfriend?” His recurrent smirk appeared, though it was not as bright as usual, for some reason.

“No he’s not!” Veronica said vehemently.

“He looks way out of your league, anyway.” he said with a bit of bite right as she ripped the photo from his hands and shoved it on her desk drawer and replied, “I don’t want you to come in my room and touch my stuff.”

“Aww, but all your things are so interesting,” JD said, feigning a pout. “By the way I found this in your bathroom down the hall.” He pulled out a small round compact case filled with small round pills.

_My birth control,_ she thought, her breathing becoming labored and her anger increasing.

“What are these for?” He asked innocently. “Headaches? Sinuses?”

“Why you~!” Veronica was about to use a cure word she only saved for the worst when she heard a knock on her door.

“Veronica?” Came the call of her mom.

The girl’s pupils reduced in size. “Oh no,” she whispered before shooting her head up to gaze at the demon. “You need to hide, like, **now**.”

JD gave her a look. “Where? Your room doesn’t seem to have that many hiding places for a guy like me.” He gestured at his demonic form to better emphasize his point.

Veronica spared a quick glance around her room and hated to admit he was right. The only place he might be able to fit was…

“My closet,” she said, unceremoniously shoving he towards it.

“There’s no way I can hide in there with my wings,” he thumbed at the large black appendages sticking out.

“You were able to conceal those before,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but I can’t now because I’m really getting low on energy,” JD said before grunting in discomfort when Veronica tried to shove him inside her walk-in closet.

“Sorry,” she muttered, giving him an apologetic look for the first time.

“This isn’t going to work.” he said, “You don’t need to-”

“Veronica?” her mom called again, sounding worried that time and started opening the door.

“Wait! Mom!” Veronica attempted to cover JD by spreading her arms but quickly realized how futile that endeavor was. She closed her eyes with a wince, waiting for the inevitable.

“Honey?” Mrs. Sawyer entered the room, searching with her eyes until they landed on the younger woman. “What are you doing with your arms spread out like that?”

Veronica opened up one eye to see that her mother wasn’t exhibiting any signs of fear over the fact that there was a demon in her daughter’s bedroom.

“I was stretching?” she suggested with an uneasy smile.

The older woman scrutinized Veronica for a second and then gasped.

_Here it comes,_ Veronica thought, in anticipation of her mom’s screams.

“Did you sleep in your clothes instead of your night shirt and pants?” her mother asked, putting her hands on her hips and giving her daughter a disapproving stare. “You know that’s not very hygienic.”

As Mrs. Sawyer continued to reprimand Veronica JD slowly made his way until he stood right next to her mother. He had on a wide blithely grin while waving a hand over Mrs. Sawyer’s oblivious face.

“I’m-I’m sorry, Mom.” Veronica said, making her approach to the older woman and sneakily swatting JD’s arm away. “I just…” she sighed. “It’s been really stressful for me lately and I just was too tired to take my clothes off last night.” She invoked the best unhappy expression to appear convincing as possible.

The show of faux sadness fooled Veronica’s mother as her maternal instincts kicked in and gave her daughter a sympathetic smile. “Oh, Ronnie, I didn’t know you were feeling this way. Is it because of… Well, after what happened last November-”

“No,” Veronica said right away. “No, Mom. It’s different than that. I just—school’s been really hectic since I’m now a senior and everything.”

“Does it have to do with the advanced classes you’re taking this year? Is it too much?” her mom asked with a hint of disquiet in her voice.

Veronica shook her head. “I’ve been handling them just fine. There’s this one kid that I feel like isn’t really leaving me alone,” she stealthily shifted her eyes towards the direction where JD stood. He had the gull to appear affronted by the allusion and rolled his red-brown eyes at her.

“Well, if that classmate of yours is still harassing you, talk with one of your teachers about it,” Mrs. Sawyer suggested, unaware at how unhelpful that advice actually was. “They’re there to assist you with your problems, after all.” She then drew Veronica into a warm embrace, which she accepted without complaint. Veronica felt so safe and warm in her mother’s arms, even if that feeling only lasted for a moment and reality reared **his** ugly head.

“I know,” Veronica said plainly.

“And remember that your dad and I are here for anything too,” her mom added after pulling away from the hug.

“I know that too.”

Mrs. Sawyer smiled empathetically at her child. “Just get yourself cleaned up and I’ll have the usual ready for you downstairs. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” Veronica said automatically. She could go for something normal (and safe) for breakfast after the insane morning she had experienced.

“I’ll see you in a bit then,” her mom said, giving a small kiss on Veronica’s forehead and then left the room.

Veronica listened to her mother’s footsteps making their way down the hall and then over the stairs. Once things became silent again she looked over at the demon. He had been busying himself adjusting his jacket’s collar before glancing at her way.

“You can make yourself invisible,” Veronica stated with an expressionless face.

“Yep,” he replied casually while smiling. “It takes less energy for me to do that than taking on a human guise.”

Veronica felt her right eye twitching. “If you could do that in the first place, why did you make me look like an idiot in front of my mom before trying to push you into my closet?”

His grin turned smug. “It amused me.”

The anger Veronica felt from before returned, tenfold. Without even thinking straight she did the one thing she swore never to do to another person.

SLAP!

The sound resonated across the room as Veronica panted and clutched her right hand, rubbing a thumb over the slightly smarted palm. It was the same hand she used to…

Veronica looked up and saw JD held a very started appearance as he hand slowly made its way to his left cheek, which had a large red imprint on it.

_Oh shit!_ Her eyes widened in horror as the realization of what she had done kicked in. _I already unintentionally pissed him off minutes ago, now I bet he’s really mad at me!_ Why did she do something so impulsive? She had been so stressed and tired after the whole night and she couldn’t just scream out her frustrations or else her parents would hear. She wanted to express how she was feeling and was now going to pay the price for it. Veronica hoped that Hell wasn’t as bad as books and movies said it was while waiting for the demon to lash out at her.

She continued to wait for a full minute before noticing that JD hadn’t moved from his spot and held a look identical to hers.

“Did you just hit me?” he asked in astonishment.

She nodded nervously.

“And you did that because…?”

Veronica’s fear subsidized for a moment. “Because you made me angry…?” she answered with uncertainty over how he would react.

“I did.” he said, sounding very distant.

“Yes,” she started to shout before catching herself with a sigh. “Yes,” Veronica said more evenly, “you did because since we met all you’ve been doing is bothering me,” she started to feel her courage returning to her with each word she uttered. “And then you had the balls to sneak into my room while I was sleeping and touched my stuff without my permission.” She took a few steps forward until she was inches away from JD’s body and grabbed her birth control right from his hands. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a withering glare. “For a demon who claims he’ll do anything I ask, you sure don’t know how to respect my wishes.”

“You’re right.”

“And I don’t care how much you’re gonna moan and groan but I-wait what?” Veronica paused mid-sentence to stare at him in confusion.

JD turned his head to some extent, frowning. “You’re right. I was being an intrusive heel that acted like a complete asshole to you. I wasn’t trying to be rude, it just **happens**. I know it’s no real excuse for what I did to you and I’m sorry.”

Veronica’s unexpected surprise started to reach her mind and heart as the demon opened up to her. He actually sounded sincere with what he was saying. Maybe he wasn’t a complete monster? Could the two of them be reaching an understanding?

“Though, getting slapped was kind of worth it since I got to see you acting all feisty earlier.” he said as his crooked smile returned at full force.

…And then Veronica’s growing consideration was gone. Her thoughtful look was quickly replaced with an annoyed mien.

“Now about you signing that contract,” he started to say before Veronica cut him off.

“I will get to that,” she promised him and herself. “But I really need to clean myself up and go down for breakfast and then go to school.” Veronica spared a quick glance at her clock. “I only have 45 minutes before my first class starts.”

“You’re worrying about school right now when you should be focusing on the contract?” he asked her incredulously.

“If I want to keep up appearances like nothing is wrong with my life then yes,” she retorted. Her glare softened just a tad. “I will look over it while I’m at school. Luckily for me I’m on top of my schoolwork and homework, for the most part. So I will have time to read and figure out the bullshit between the lines.”

“If you don’t sign it before 2:35 you’ll-”

“Immediately die and get sent to Hell, I got it the first time,” she said pointedly.

JD lifted his hands up in surrender. “Alright, you aren’t forgetful. Just be sure to keep that in mind for the morning and afternoon.”

“Don’t worry I will,” she said with a little bit more snark than necessary, but forgive the girl for feeling derisive this morning.

With that said Veronica walked out of her room with a small handful of clean clothes and rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower before heading downstairs for some eggs, fruit and toast.

* * *

✬JD✬

_She really is something,_ JD thought as he watched his impending Contractor through her kitchen window. Yes, he was being intrusive still, but this time he was keeping his distance. That had to count as an A for effort. JD then pushed that unimportant trifle and returned his focus on the girl.

Already Veronica felt like someone very interesting to the demon. He wasn’t completely sure as to what that entailed yet, but he was more than willing to get to know her more in order to find out. Though, he had learned recently—with a literal slap to the face no less—the only way she would willingly allow him near her was that he acted less of a creep. He really couldn’t help the way he acted earlier. Honest. It was in a demon’s nature to have the desire to raise Cain. Also he really liked how he could easily rile her up. The way her face scrunched and turned red was entertaining and adorable to the demon.

_Adorable?_ JD’s conscience repeated. _Easy there, pal, we don’t want to get in too deep here._ They hadn’t even signed the contract yet. JD was still unsure what Veronica wanted from him. He had yet to ask her that.

As his mind started to wander the demon felt his stomach growl. JD placed a hand over his flat abdomen and quickly realized he was going to need to feast on someone soon. Right as he grasped the situation that he was in Veronica stood up from her kitchen’s table, picked up her plate and empty glass, placed them over in the sink and waved to her parents.

_Must be time for school,_ JD thought with a growing smile. If there was one good thing about Veronica insisting on going there was that he could easily find some easy pickings.

Veronica stepped through her front door and closed it behind her, wearing a new colored coded blue outfit and carrying a brown handbag in her hands. JD presumed the contract was inside the bag as he made his way to her and walked by her side.

“I don’t suppose you signed while on your way to the door?” JD joked partially, while trying to conceal the nervousness in his voice.

“If I did I would let you know,” she replied, sighing.

“You have even less time than before, you know.”

“Please don’t remind me,” Veronica said in a warning intone.

“Okay, no need to get angry again,” he said in mock surrender.

“So you’re still not mad that I slapped you earlier?” she hesitantly asked a minute later while they walked near the end of the block.

“You had every right to after how furious you got,” JD said honestly. “Besides it didn’t really hurt.” Part in thanks to his ability to heal quickly and getting hit by a human meant nothing to a demon. It really felt like a gentle tap than anything else.

“Oh,” she looked down, probably feeling awkward about the situation.

“And it’s not like you tried to shoot me.”

“Why would I shoot you?”

_Crap_ , he didn’t mean for that to slip. “No reason.” he said hastily. “Well, other than me being a demon, right?”

“If I tried to kill someone solely based on his or her appearance that would be kinda racist, wouldn’t it?” she asked philosophically. JD stared at her in wonder for a moment. Veronica was getting more and more interesting by the minute.

“I would only hypothetically shoot someone if they were trying to kill me first. That should be the only time you should ever point a gun at someone. Not that I even know how to load a gun, let alone shoot somebody. Not that I even want to learn either.” She shuddered.

JD wanted to learn why she abhorred hand held weapons when he heard two loud honks and saw a bright red four-wheeled vehicle pull up the curb.

JD whistled. “Well, take a gander over that keen car.” He could see that automobile designs have advanced considerably since the last time the demon saw one.

“You are not driving in Heather’s _Porsche_ ,” she said in a low enough mutter only JD could hear.

“Aww, c’mon,” he bemoaned.

“And don’t even think about coming to school with me,” Veronica added right before she approached the car, gave each girl inside a curt greeting and entered it. As soon as she closed the door the redhead driving the vehicle hit hard on the gas pump and sped down the street like she was Barney Oldfield.

_Bad choice of words again, Miss Sawyer,_ JD thought as he watched the car disappear from human view. _You didn’t say I couldn’t come to your school by **myself**. _

He checked his energy cache and learned he had enough for one flight to the other side of town if he wanted. Luckily for JD he would only need half of that energy. The demon stretched out his black wings and with a single flap was up in the air, flying towards what he viewed as an all you can eat buffet. Getting to see his Contractor in her natural habitat was an added bonus.

**End of Chapter 3**

* * *

**Q-A:** Woo-hoo! I’m feeling pumped about this chapter. It was my favorite to write so far. JD snooping around Veronica’s room was hilarious to me. XD I hope you all enjoyed it too. The next chapter will be the last ‘normal’ day Veronica will have before things change. If you read my summary you already know what that means. ;) We’ll get to see the Heathers again and meet a few new/familiar faces at Westerberg. I hope you’ll like how I’ll write those characters when they appear.

I am still surprised nobody has come forward to answer the riddle. :\ Maybe it’s too hard? Well, my prize still stands if anyone is still interested. 

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	5. “Neeb s’eh erehw wonk neve t’nod uoy”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another typical morning in Westerberg High… at first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Somewhere in another fic’s universe written by QAuthoress74 also set in the 80s, a sentient Porsche voiced by Lando Calrissian shudders in discomfort *
> 
> His boss (a sentient red truck that sounds like Eeyore): What is the problem, my friend?  
> Porsche: I can’t help but think a poor innocent, but fabulous looking, Porsche is bein' used by someone who is pure evil.  
> His boss: Shall we put a stop to it?  
> Porsche: Nah, we can’t 'cause it’s happenin' a year ahead of our story and at the other end of the country.  
> His boss: ...Bummer.

❦ Veronica❦

To say that the air inside Heather’s Porsche felt tense was an understatement. Veronica chose to look everywhere but the Heathers. Part of the reason was that she was enacting the silent treatment on them for what happened hours ago, and also because she still tired and didn’t have the energy to yell. It wasn’t until she felt a hard enough poke on her right shoulder that she turned around to see Heather Duke frowning at her.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes,” she complained.

“What is it?” Veronica asked, clipped.

“The photos you promised?”

Veronica’s mind trailed back to a prior conversation on Wednesday and instantly remembered what it was about. “Oh, right.” Heather had asked her if she could fill in for her yearbook’s usual photographer and take some photos of the school with all the Fall leaves still in the trees. The black-haired girl had managed to do that both on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. She recalled the talk so vividly even thought it now felt like a lifetime ago.

“Yep, that was it. So do you have the film or not?” Heather twitched her right hand in a grabbing-like motion.

Veronica nodded. “Yeah, I do.” She opened up her bag wide enough for her hand to go in and pulled out a few _Kodak_ picture rolls.

“How many did you take?” Heather asked while placing the rolls inside her tote bag.

_The same one from this morning,_ Veronica remembered with a sense of dread. Then her mind caught up with Heather’s question. “Oh, uh, I think about 28? Maybe closer to thirty.”

“Thirty?” Heather and Heather McNamara said in surprised unison. The latter blinked owlishly from her position at the front seat.

“I wanted to be sure that I got the best photos and I was worried about the lighting, which angles to looked right, make sure the layout didn’t look too crowded, which leaves looked the prettiest-” Veronica rambled on, looking at her fingers while lacing and unlacing them.

“Veh-ron-i-ca,” Heather Chandler drew out with a sigh. “You need to be careful when you talk like that. Lesser people will mistake you for a nerd if you talk around them that way.” Which was Heather’s way of telling her to shut up without saying it since Veronica wasn’t Heather Duke.

“Sorry,” Veronica winced. “I just really like taking pictures.”

“Well, I’m sure I can find at least three decent ones for the yearbook after I’ll get them developed,” Heather the school’s newspaper editor said, keeping her tone neutral, though Veronica could see a hidden emotion in her eyes. Was she impressed by Veronica’s work ethic?

“Well, you know, if you need help like this again I wouldn’t mind assisting,” the ebony-haired girl tried to say lightly, but was secretly hoping it didn’t come off as too desperate.

The shorthaired brunette Heather shook her head. “This was just a one time thing, don’t worry about that.” Veronica hid her disappointed expression perfectly so none of the Heathers noticed and Heather Duke continued without missing a beat. “I usually have a back up photo guy—Todd—but he’s gone for the week ‘cause he had to go to a relative’s wedding. Thanks to my usual guy Doug Hylton getting Mono I was sure I was gonna be screwed if I didn’t have the school photos in time for today.”

“How did Doug get sick anyway?” Heather McNamara wondered aloud.

Heather Chandler chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s been trading spit with that Lennon glasses-wearing druggie for the last week and a half.” She laughed when a new thought must’ve came her way. “I bet whatever crack she’s taking must’ve messed up with his immune system.”

The other Heathers forced out giggles right after.

“Gross,” Heather Duke said in agreement with Heather.

“The smell would be impossible to get rid of,” Heather in yellow said with a shiver.

“I bet they must be happy together,” Veronica mumbled, unaware that she was saying her own thoughts aloud.

“What was that, Veronica?” Heather Chandler demanded.

Veronica shook her head rapidly while waving her hands. “Nothing. Uh, just thinking those two were made for each other because…. They’re both losers, right?” she added a weak smile.

The Heathers exchanged looks before they laughed obnoxiously.

“You got that, Veronica,” Heather the redhead said approvingly. The black-haired girl sighed with relief, trying her hardest to ignore the guilt forming in her gut.

“Losers should only be seen with other losers,” Heather McNamara said.

“Nice joke, Ronnie,” Heather Duke said. “Maybe I could have you write some witty quote to go in the yearbook.”

“Shut up Heather!” Heather shouted.

The Heather in green retreated back into her shell. “Sorry, Heather.”

Veronica wished she could roll her eyes, but knew better than to draw unwanted attention. Heather Chandler hated it when the spotlight wasn’t on her every five seconds.

The rest of the drive to school was uneventful. Not once did any of the Heathers bring up what happened at the Dead Dean House. Veronica wasn’t sure if they were pretending it never happened on purpose. Like they were afraid some cop would overhear, or if the whole ordeal truly meant nothing to them. Veronica guessed it was probably a mixture of both as even the Heathers couldn’t be immune to the law outside of school. Sometimes Veronica wondered if the only place popular kids were safe was in high school.

“Okay, Veronica, why have I been feeling you glaring holes behind my head for the last ten minutes?” Heather Chandler asked after she parked in the student’s lot.

Veronica hadn’t been glaring at Heather during the entire drive, she made sure to only do it when the other Heathers didn’t notice. Apparently that wasn’t enough.

Heather turned around to stare at her and frowned. “What is wrong with your face? Did you forget to put makeup on purpose and secretly want to commit social suicide?”

The ebony-haired girl had just realized that during her hurry to get out of the house on time she did forget to apply her usual supplies of makeup. What good was using (read: wasting) her High IQ to know which type of lip-gloss to use when she forgotten to apply it on in the first place?

Heather seemed to have read Veronica’s mind and gave the girl an eye-roll. “Heather,” she looked at Heather McNamara, “get some of your gloss out and lend it to Veronica. Her lips look drier than the Sahara.”

“Yes, Heather,” the Heather in yellow pulled out a tube of _Maybelline Kissing Potion_ from her purse. While Heather gave out the orders she pulled out a tube of red lipstick and reapplied it while looking at her rearview mirror.

“And Heather put some powder under Veronica’s eyes. I don’t want people to think we replaced her with a raccoon,” Heather commanded before giving Veronica a look of disproval.

Right after Heather McNamara put the gloss on Veronica’s lips she rubbed them and muttered an unintelligible word along with, “you” at the end.

“What was that?” Heather Chandler asked, ready for a preemptive strike.

Veronica stretched her mouth into a smile and said, “I was saying **thank** you.” Though she had really whispered a four-lettered word that ended with a 'k'.

Heather’s cold glare softened slightly before she checked her teeth for any red smudges. “That’s what I thought you said.”

* * *

The front doors of Westerberg High opened wide when the Heathers rolled in. Veronica walked right behind them while they glided. Everyone pushed he or herself back onto their lockers order to give the four girls room, ducked around hallways or went into an empty classroom. Veronica guessed some kids did that to avoid their scathing abuse and didn’t want to be humiliated until lunchtime.

“Girls,” Heather Chandler began towards Heather, Heather and Veronica. “I’ll see you after first period by my locker. Give me some juicy gossip you might find your classes and please make sure it’s something fresh and not just somebody’s table scraps.”

“I’ll be sure to find something very, Heather.” Heather McNamara said obediently while the Heather in green and Veronica chose to nod instead.

“See ya girls,” Heather said in her faux friendly voice that had the obvious undertone of her true viper-like persona. She flipped her bright red-orange curls and left the three.

“Anybody want to join me to the restroom?... Just to take a piss, I’m not gonna go there to puke,” Heather Duke added when she noticed Veronica staring at her. 

“I need to see Ram,” Heather said while putting another layer of her Kissing Potion on. She always saw her latest beau—who happened to be Ram most of the time—before classes started. It was a daily routine at that point.

“I’ll go with you, Heather,” Veronica said to the school’s editor. “I think I need to go too.” _And to make sure Heather keeps her promise and doesn’t throw up_ , was what Veronica inserted to herself.

The two arrived in the one girls restroom at school everyone unspoken-ly agreed was reserved for the popular kids. There was no one else inside when Veronica and Heather went in, presumably because the others were probably running late or still hanging out with friends out in front. Veronica leaned against the wall besides the sinks and mirrors while Heather went into a stall.

“So, what was the real reason you were glaring at Heather earlier?” Heather asked while washing her hands after flushing the toilet.

Veronica crossed her arms and frowned at Heather. “Do you guys just not get freaked out after almost getting caught committing a felony?”

“You’re talking about the thing at the Dean House?” Heather said, applying mascara on her light brown eyelashes, doing her best to prevent the brush from touching her eyes. Veronica was grateful that she inherited her mom’s thick eyelashes so she never had to put that black gunk on them.

“Yeah,” Veronica said with a half laugh. “How can you be so calm about it? You had to leave your car. What if the police use your license plates to track you down?”

“My Jeep was parked at like the other side of the street right by some other peoples cars. The cops won’t suspect anything,” Heather said confidently. “Besides, when I came back for my Jeep all I saw was the squad car.”

“There weren’t any policemen around?” Veronica asked, flummoxed at the notion.

Heather shrugged. “At least they weren’t there to see me get my car back. Anyway the reason I’m not freaking out over this is because unlike you Heather, Heather and I have done some things way worse than breaking into condemned buildings,” Heather said. “Like, we’ve drank, fucked, did coke and God knows what else. We got away with all of that, no prob. Nobody at school is dumb enough to try and snitch on us.”

“I’m pretty sure cops aren’t the same as intimated freshmen,” Veronica replied derisively.

“They don’t know as long as we don’t get caught,” Heather pointed out. “Jesus, Ronnie, you gotta stop acting so paranoid all of a sudden. What’s your damage?”

“Nothing,” Veronica lied, averting her gaze for a second. Then she glanced at Heather.

“Are we done here or do you have something else you want to rant about?” the brunette question.

_I’m stuck with a demon because our_ Prada _-wearing Caligula forced us to play with an Ouija board. Oh, and I might miss fifth period today because I’ll be in Purgatory so I can’t make our Saturday croquet match at your house. Sorry!_ was what Veronica wanted to say but had to settle with, “I’m good.”

“Great. Can you make me a forgery before we leave for class?” Heather asked after adjusting her skirt. “Make it look like my mom’s handwriting. I have her grocery shopping list for you to copy.”

“What for?” Veronica asked inattentively while looking at the list and prepared to write on her little black notebook slash diary.

“I need a new prescription for the pharmacy. Write it like I’m suffering from pneumonia and need really strong cold medicine. Why are you staring at me?” Heather said once she noticed Veronica giving her a funny look. “Chop-chop. We have like five minutes before the final bell.”

“Sorry,” Veronica muttered and started right away on the note. It took less than two minutes for her to forge the note and handed it to Heather.

“Consider this your payment so I won’t rat you out to Heather about your complaining.” Heather.

_Wow, I feel so blessed._ Veronica watched the green wearing Heather leave the bathroom and bowed mockingly when she wasn’t looking.

Veronica blew a piece of hair away from her face while she left the restroom. She really hated how powerless she truly was.

* * *

♥ Heather ♥

Heather McNamara strode down the hall with a light smile on her face, occasionally waving to mutual acquaintances and fans from the games. She reached a corner and found her target without difficulty.

Ram Sweeney was the Westerberg Rottweiler’s linebacker. He was great on the field so that made him very popular and respected. Nobody tried to bother him or his pal Kurt Kelly as a result.

“Hey, say you’re sorry!” Ram yelled at the freshman he had in a headlock. Kids around them either pretended they didn’t see what was happening or quickly walked around the scene.

Heather chose to do the former and averted her eyes and waited for when it was over. _You gave your virginity to this guy, Heather. You have to accept what you signed up for._

Less than a minute later the younger high schooler choked out a meek ‘I’m sorry’ and was soon freed from his confinement.

“I hope this teaches you a lesson to not stare at me funny again,” Ram warned the shorter boy with a clenched fist.

“I have allergies,” the fourteen-year-old explained. “I can’t stop my eyes from squinting.”

“Do I look like somebody that cares about your stupid allergies?” the jock said with a laugh. Before the kid could answer Ram shoved him away and made another threat but stopped once he saw Heather.

“Hey.” Ram’s aggressive demeanor had vanished completely and was replaced with an easy-going stature. “How’s it goin’ Heather,” he asked while slipping an arm around her waist.

“I’m good,” she said with a giggle, pretending she hadn’t seen him wail on the freshman.

Said freshman glared daggers at Ram, discreetly enough so nobody else saw, but Heather did. She almost opened her mouth to tell her boyfriend but then felt a tingle at the back of her spine, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.

“Cold babe?” Ram asked with a leering smile. “Do you need me to warm you up later?” Heather knew he was trying to sound seductive when he dropped an octave, but she honestly thought it sounded immature.

“No,” she said truthfully. “I feel warm. Kinda hot actually.” Heather then tugged at her yellow blouse, wondering why she felt like she was wearing a thick sweater all of a sudden.

“Ya you are,” the black-haired football player commented before laughing at his own joke. Heather smiled feebly in response. As they sauntered down the hall Heather caught a small glimpse of the freshman stalking away from them before she turned her head away. She decided not to think about him or the strange sensation she had felt. Out of sight and out of mind, after all. 

If her eyes had stayed on the freshman a little longer she would have noticed a taller boy in a black trench coat trailing close behind him.

* * *

❦ Veronica❦

Veronica had to rush all the way to her first period class due to it being at the other end of the school where the girls’ room was. She had to be careful with avoiding the watchful eye of any teachers prowling for any kids running in the halls and made it before the last bell rung, much to her relief. Though she still shared an awkward moment with her teacher, Mrs. Church.

“You should work on your timing, Veronica.” the graying woman said, giving her a flat look.

“I was catching up with a friend,” she attempted to justify, but knew Mrs. Church rarely expressed sympathy to stragglers even if she wasn’t technically late.

“Try to be more careful with your time,” the world history teacher warned. “Every second of your life matters.”

_You have no idea,_ Veronica thought, feeling the weight of her contract inside her bag become a pound heavier.

“Hey Veronica,” a nearby voice whispered as Veronica made her way to her assigned seat. The black-haired girl looked up and saw a girl with brown hair tied up in a Whale Spout ponytail wearing big round glasses with thick black frames. The girl sent her a small wave once she got the other’s attention.

“Hi Betty,” Veronica said, some of her dour mood from earlier partially disappearing.

“I have those notes you asked for,” Betty Finn said, pulling out a folder with a handwritten document that had several different facts listed. All of it related to the current subject in their class.

“Thank you,” Veronica said, sighed. “You’re a life saver.” She had forgotten all about the weekly test Mrs. Church assigned them on every Friday.

Betty beamed at the compliment and sat patiently while Veronica poured over the notes before the teacher told them to put their papers away and get ready for the quiz.

Veronica had tried to go through the test quickly as possible in order to find time to read over the contract, but found out early on that she was stumped with most of the questions. Even with Betty’s extremely helpful note taking she had done over the week it wasn’t enough for Veronica to memorize all the historical events and names.

_Why do I even need to know the exact year the Hundred Years War ended?_ she asked internally. _The answer is in the name isn’t it?*_

The bell ring startled Veronica more than it should. She nearly jumped out of her seat after hearing it.

“Alright, drop your pencils and bring your tests over on my desks. Even if it’s unfinished,” Mrs. Church adjoined when a student started to ask what to do with his incomplete test. Veronica sped through the last five questions (thanking Lord Almighty for once that the test was multiple choice) and hurried to Church’s desk to hand her paper over.

“Veronica,” her teacher called out.

The girl winced, which went unseen because her back was turned. Veronica slowly went over to Mrs. Church’s desk and stood there, waiting to hear what the teacher wanted to say.

“Is this about my test?” Veronica felt her palms sweating already. “Look, I tried really hard to memorize the facts and-”

“Veronica,” Mrs. Church lifted a hand, signaling for silence. “I just looked over your test and you barely managed to score a B-.”

“Oh.” Veronica sighed with relief but then frowned when she saw Mrs. Church’s look of disappointment.

“This is the first best grade I’ve gotten from you since school started over two weeks ago,” she said.

“I know,” Veronica replied. Her feelings of elevation quickly evaporated. 

“Veronica, you’re a talented student,” Mrs. Church said, clearly reading her student’s discomforted body language. “You’re just not that when you’re in my class,” she said rather bluntly, never being the type of woman to beat around the bush. “You have a gift with words with how detailed your last essay was, but you either leave an explanation to an event open-ended or you mixed up historical facts with others ones. For example, you wrote in your essay that the Huns invaded Rome, when there has been no historical proof of that. It was the Germanic barbarians, FYI.”

Veronica swallowed and then nodded in understanding. 

World History was one of the only two non-AP classes Veronica was taking the other being economics. And despite the smaller workload she was still not doing well in the class. It wasn’t like Mrs. Church was bad at her lectures; she just had a tendency to drag too long on certain subjects and made the class tedious and boring at times. It caused Veronica’s mind to wander and forget key facts. But Veronica wasn’t going to say that to her face. The only other kids failing in Church’s class were the ones who purposely didn’t pay close attention. Veronica was an outlier in that regard.

“Look,” Mrs. Church’s stare softened somewhat. “Have you considered getting a tutor to help you with the assignments? I’m only suggesting that now because the schoolwork will only get more difficult from now on and until the semester is over.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said quickly. “I really need to get to my next class.” _And keep reading that damn contract._ Veronica had checked her Swatch and was anxious to see it was 9:35. There was exactly five hours left before the deadline and she was only on the fiftieth page and still had several hundred to go.

“Please do think over my offer,” Mrs. Church said as Veronica headed for the door. She exited the room and headed towards Heather’s locker when somebody decided to stand in her way.

“Hey, ‘rrronica,” another jock in a red and white letterman greeted her. His light brown hair was in the same tussled style that usually made other girls swoon whenever he raked his fingers through it. To Veronica it made her wonder why he never thought to carry a comb around.

“It’s **Ver** onica, Kurt.” she corrected him with a grudging sigh. Veronica was in no mood to humor Kurt this morning.

“So, I was wondering when I’d pick you up for our date,” he said, attempting to look cool by leaning against a pole.

“What date?” she asked, putting her hands over her hips. “I don’t recall any previous conversation where I said I’d go out with you.”

“You were pretty hot at last week’s party. Figured you wanted to get me interested by acting so sexy.” His explanation had to be the most moronic thing Veronica had heard him say.

“I was completely wasted at Ram’s party, Kurt,” Veronica stated, feeling a little embarrassed to admit that. “I could barely remember my name, let alone how I acted back then. Look, if I gave you the wrong signals at the party, I’m sorry.”

“So is that a yes?” he asked, grinning at her, as though his smile would be enough to win her over. “It’s so obvious that you want me, right?”

Veronica wanted to roll her eyes so badly at that moment. His weak-ass attempts at flirting only felt like a cheap imitation of J- _No,_ Veronica internally shook her head. She was at school. Veronica didn’t need to think about anything related to magic or the supernatural, including demon boys. 

Just as Veronica was ready to tell the jock off he stopped leaning towards her and suddenly straightened his back and no longer had his eyes all droopy. They instead they stared straight ahead while he had an even dumber expression than his ‘flirty face’.

“Miss Veronica Sawyer, I need to speak with you in private,” Kurt said, using vocabulary she never heard him utter before in her entire life. And she was being literal since she knew all of her classmates since Pre-K.

It took Veronica only two seconds to realize what was going on. She looked around to see the hall they were in was vacant before she glared at Kurt.

“Okay, whoever you are, stop possessing Kurt.” Veronica ordered the ghost who currently inhabited the brunet’s body. “You don’t even know where he’s been.”

“I will do so if you agree to speak with me at once, Miss Sawyer,” the possessed Kurt said, sounding very distant while standing more listlessly than normal.

Veronica scrunched her face, forcing down an exasperated sigh before pulling out one of her forged Hall Passes from her bag. “Okay. Just free him already.”

A moment later the glazed look in Kurt’s eyes went away. He let out a small groan while clutching his head. Both were the normal symptoms of a victim recovering from post-possession. Luckily the side effects were only temporary and Veronica had seen it enough times to know Kurt will be back to his normal—dickweed self—by third period.

Veronica followed the wisp that floated out of Kurt’s head and headed towards an empty classroom. She locked the door and covered its window with shades so there wouldn’t be any people peeping in. Veronica then walked over to a desk, leaned on it and crossed her arms. Waiting.

“Well,” she said expectantly to the silvery ball of light. “What is it you want to talk about?”

“I fear you are in great danger,” the wisp said right before it shifted into a more human-like form.

Veronica’s eyes widened at the ghost’s appearance, recognizing who it was at once. She also became fearful over the warning.

What did it mean?

**End of Chapter 4**

* * *

**Q-A:** Dun-dun-dun~! I did another cliffhanger. OMG! Will I ever stop this madness? Nope. XD I never will. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave Kudos in the last chapter. I was happy to have read a few reviews from some familiar faces. Anyway, I do apologize for the lack of JD the demon in this chapter (save for the little cameo) but he will full frontal in the next one.

References:

*I don’t know if any of your history teachers ever tried to stump you with that question in high school, but mine certainly did. For those of you who don’t know the Hundred Years War lasted from 1337-1453 (a lot longer than a century if I’m doing the math right). So, yeah this is just to reinstate that Veronica isn’t super smart when it comes to history unless it’s related to ghosts’ back-stories. XD That might actually come to play later on in the story. ;)

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter shout-out goes to deeplyshallow for correctly guessing the name of the last chapters. :D


	6. “Dalas a no gnisserd ekil si nomed a ot hself namuh”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica confronts JD and learns two revealing things about him.

❦Veronica❦

The ball of light that stood before Veronica in the empty classroom stretched its corporal shape into the transparent form a balding man, in a green jacket suit, slacks and a plaid bowtie.

“I appreciate you allowing me to speak freely with you Miss Veronica,” the ghost said.

“Haven’t seen you in a while Mr. Poole,” Veronica replied, leaning against a desk.

Willard Poole was Westerberg’s Chem. Lab professor during the 1970s back when regulations were more lax. Which meant the poor teacher died when fumes from a student’s assignment hadn’t been ventilated properly. It was a tragic way to die, though the students back then thought the real tragedy was the fact the school administration was able to get a replacement by the next day Mr. Poole passed away and didn’t get a day off from chemistry classes. But it wasn’t the end of Mr. Poole. He continued to haunt the halls in an effort to look after the students, but was downhearted when no one could see him. The teacher was over the moon when he realized Veronica was able to, much to her initial embarrassment.

“So, what is this great danger that I’m in?” she asked, remembering the previous conversation she had with Mr. Poole while he possessed Kurt in the hallway. “It’s not related to the demon I’m forced to make a contract with, is it?”

“It has everything to do with that demon I’m afraid,” the dead teacher said gravely.

Veronica sighed. “Of course it’s about him.”

“I sensed the demon’s presence in school,” Mr. Poole revealed.

“What?” Veronica shouted, standing straight and at attention. “How? I told him not to…” she trailed off after she thought over what she **really** said to him a couple of hours ago.

* * *

_“And don’t even think about coming to school **with** me,” Veronica from the past said to JD before entering Heather’s Porsche. _

* * *

_Goddamned loopholes,_ Veronica thought, grinding her teeth. She should’ve been more specific and told JD, like, never come to school period and don’t go eating people while she was near or away from him. Now thanks to her there was a demon on the loose at Westerberg High. A demon that had the power to turn invisible, fly, and shape-shift. Veronica had to do something.

“Where is he?” she asked a minute later.

Mr. Poole gasped, aghast at her question. “You want to go find the demon? Every ghost in the school has been doing everything in their powers to avoid him. I only came out because I knew you could see me and probably warn the other students of this threat.”

“What would I say to them, ‘there’s a demon about to go all _Hannibal Lecture_ on everyone’?” She shook her head. “Nobody would believe me and he actually has powers and might do something dangerous if someone did try to confront him. He kinda listens to me, already. Maybe there’s a way I can stop him.”

“I would strongly advise doing that,” Mr. Poole said warily.

“Well, then do you want to go face him yourself?” Veronica asked, but had a hunch what his response was going to be.

The already pale ghost turned a white sheet. Figuratively and literally before he reverted to his human form. “I just said my fellow spirits and I are attempting to avoid the demon.”

“Why are you afraid of him anyway? You’re already dead so he can’t hurt you.”

Mr. Poole shimmered. “It’s not him devouring our essence that we are afraid of. It’s loosing our souls. There’s nothing more delicious to a demon than the soul of a tormented being.”

“Well, I might not have mine before 3 o’clock today so I’ve got nothing to lose.”

The ghost of Mr. Poole gave Veronica an unhappy expression but conceded. “The last time he was spotted was at the west hall,” he revealed.

Veronica realized that was at the other end of the main building their were in and needed to act fast.

“If I don’t make it back… if you end up seeing a couple ghosts name Agatha and Thomas, let them know that I’m sorry?” she asked the spirit.

Mr. Poole’s expression deepened. “I hope it won’t come down to that, but I will fulfill your last request.”

“And ask them to look after my parents for me in case I don’t come back as a ghost,” she added, feeling sad that she hadn’t given her dad a hug that morning when she was rushing out of the house.

“I will,” was the last thing Mr. Poole said before turning into vapor and disappeared.

Veronica sighed and tried to steady her breathing before heading to the door. She moved her head partially out to check if the coast was clear and saw no signs of students or teachers down the hall. She adjusted the strap of her bag before heading to the west wing.

_You can do this Veronica,_ the girl thought determinedly. _This won’t be like the last time where you were almost sliced in half._ Veronica shuddered at the memory. She was so lost in her thoughts that she bumped into an underclassman. The kid had combed blond hair, was a head shorter than her, and wearing a t-shirt with some video game character Veronica couldn’t recognize. With the acne sprinkled across his face it was clear to her that the boy was an obvious target for bullying.

“Watch it, will-” the freshman started to say until his eyes landed on her and he gasped in fright.

“Uh,” Veronica smartly articulated.

“I’msorry!Ididn’tknowyouwerewiththeHeathersSorry!” he quickly said at once before running to down the hall. With how fast he was going he ended up tripping after he collided with Peter Dawson. Veronica watched as the prep gave the younger boy a fierce tongue-lashing before he stalked off. He noticed Veronica and gave her a much more polite greeting, but she wasn’t paying attention to him at the moment. Her eyes were trained on the freshman and saw how he was glaring daggers at Peter’s backside. The freshman then walked into the bathroom further down the hall and closed it with a loud smack. After Veronica winced from the sound she saw her true target a moment later.

_There he is,_ Veronica thought as she watched JD step out of the shadows from the nearby lockers. She stood behind a corner, waiting to see what the demon would do next and saw him go inside the very same bathroom the freshman just entered.

_I_ _need to put a stop to this before it’s too late,_ Veronica decided. She didn’t care if she would have to face JD’s wrath, she wasn’t going to let someone die just for looking like an ideal snack to the demon. She also didn’t care if she was going inside a **boy’s** bathroom. Veronica was going to save a life dammit. She had to do something good in her life for once.

Veronica pulled the door and walked through the bathroom threshold with a look of resolve. “Step away from the-” she began before stopping halfway.

Instead of seeing the walls covered in blood and guts they were the same basic white on white tiles every other restroom at school had. And instead of witnessing JD standing over the remains of a poor victim Veronica only saw him touching the boy’s neck with two fingers and turned to look at her with a perplexed stare. The boy didn’t even seem to notice JD’s presence and through the mirror Veronica then noticed JD’s reflection was imperceptible.

_He made himself invisible again,_ Veronica observed, _and the only thing he’s doing is poking the kid with a finger?_

“Veronica?” JD mouthed, expressing a puzzled face.

“What the…” the scared freshman began hyperventilating after a girl in the boy’s bathroom, even if he wasn’t doing anything worse than washing his hands.

JD sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and then spoke in an eerily calm voice while pointing at the teenaged boy. **“Peels ot og.”**

The boy’s eyelids sagged until they closed and he fell flat on his back. Veronica rushed over to the younger kid’s side, gasping in shock.

“What did you do to him?” she demanded in an angry intone.

“I told him to go to sleep,” JD said simply.

“You were talking in that freaky way Heather did earlier when she summoned you,” she stated, not sounding all that convinced.

“Then what she was doing was Dark Magic. It is a practice that’s exclusive to demons and Witches.”

_Heather McNamara is a witch?_ Veronica thought before she dismissed the thought. If Heather really was one she’d be the one in charge and not Heather Chandler.

“Look if you’re still worried, he has a pulse.” JD said while kneeling down next to her. He pointed at the kid’s wrist and added, “You can check right there or I can do it.” The demon started to move his hand towards the freshman’s arm.

Veronica became very frightened for the boy all of a sudden and pushed JD’s arm away. “Don’t you dare touch him!”

“I said he’s fine,” he defended.

“Yeah, until you were going to strangle him to death and then eat his corpse,” Veronica said accusingly.

JD’s annoyed expression shifted to confusion. “Eat him?”

“That’s what you said you would do to people if I didn’t sign the contract on time.”

“Wait, you think I was going to literally eat this kid?” he asked while thumbing at the unconscious student.

Veronica’s temper somewhat dissipated after seeing the demon look bemused. “You told me this morning that if I didn’t sign the contract I’d be sent to Hell and then you would-”

“’Go on a human energy harvesting spree,’” he finished for her. A moment later a look of realization appear on his features. “Oh, now I get it. You thought I meant I was going to eat human flesh if you didn’t sign the contract.”

“Well, yes,” she said, sounding hysterical. “What else was I supposed to assume?”

JD crossed his arms and gave Veronica a displeased front. “I’m a little bit offended that you thought because I’m a demon that means I like eating people.”

“So demons don’t eat people?” Veronica asked with a hopeful tone.

“Oh no, they do. But they don’t have to,” he added after seeing her nervous expression. “Human flesh to a demon is like dressing on a salad. We don’t need it, but it adds a little flavor.”

Veronica blanched. “Please don’t compare a human to any type of food that I like to eat.”

JD rolled his eyes. “Didn’t know somebody was so squeamish.”

The black-haired girl glared at him in response. “Okay, so what do demons eat for subsistence?”

“Technically still humans, but not the way you’re thinking,” he said knowingly. “Okay, so demons actually feed off the energy a human soul produces. We just need to be in skin contact with the human in order to collect the energy and replenish ourselves.”

_If they eat peoples souls that would explain why I haven’t seen a ghost in the same vicinity as JD._ Veronica thought. Spirits were the projections of a person’s soul still tied to the Mortal Plain, after all. “So how long do you need to touch someone in order to feel ‘full’?”

JD loosened his arms and stared at the freshman. “It would have to be his entire soul for me to feel rejuvenated. Then there would be nothing left in his body and would later die.”

“Are you serious?” Veronica gasped, holding a hand over her mouth.

“I wasn’t going to kill him. I don’t like eating someone that I can talk to and can talk back.” JD promised, looking and sounding just as appalled as she. “I was only going to take enough energy from this kid that would just leave him feeling emotionally drained. It all depends on the moods. In order to feel full as you put it, I’d have to go around consuming energy from different sources.”

Veronica felt slightly better once finding out this demon seemed to have a conscience, though why she was feeling that way bothered her. She internally shook her head and focused on the main issue.

“Moods?” Veronica echoed. “What does that have to do with demon feeding?”

“Everything,” JD exposited. “You see there are certain rules demons need to follow. One of them is that we can’t just absorb energy from just about any human. Otherwise there wouldn’t be any humans left at all. Demons can only get soul energy when a human is expressing a certain emotion. Seven of them to be precise.”

“Seven?” Veronica repeated, before thinking it over. “You mean like the Seven Deadly Sins.”

JD nodded. “Yep, good old, Sloth, Pride, Envy, Greed, Lust, Wrath and Gluttony,” he listed the seven with his fingers, uttering the last one with a slight hiss like he was forcing himself to say it. He then pointed to the freshman. “I was trailing after this kid all morning ‘cause he was feeling very wrathful at a few other kids that were mean to him earlier. And I had no idea that your school was filled with so many people expressing the sins so frequently. I already sensed over a dozen kids expressing, envy, lust and sloth during the first hour alone.” The demon held a very excited expression while he described his findings.

Veronica pulled back a loose strand of hair behind her ear and shifted uncomfortably.

“So you just have to wait around until you come across a human that’s expressing jealousy, hunger or pride before taking a sliver of person’s life force?”

“Well~ the reasons demons exist is that we’re supposed to tempt humans into doing certain sinful acts.” JD explained, his mouth forming into a crooked grin. “In fact the only way to get a full person’s life energy without killing them is if a demon directly coerces their behavior. My personal favorite temptation is lust.”

Veronica felt her cheeks warm up with the look he gave her. She decided to pretend that her face became red from anger. “You better not try anything on me.”

JD lifted his hands in surrender, his previous expression sobered up immensely. “I just want to make it clear that I don’t do anything unless my partner asks me first. I would much rather commit consensual acts of pleasure instead of forcing myself on to a lady.” His eyes flashed for a second while he sneered. “I don’t do that.”

Veronica cooled a bit after hearing him admit that, but she kept her frown. “Okay, so you don’t actually kill anyone in order to eat.”

“I can still murder somebody for you, if you ask nicely.” he interjected cheerily. Veronica wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

“No killing anyone, please?” she begged.

“Do you want that as a part of your contract?” JD asked with interest.

Veronica’s eyes widened and cursed. “I forgot about that.” She pulled out the hulking pile of paper onto her lap and leafed through the pages, speed-reading. “God, why is most of the wording so vague sounding? I can barely read it in this old medieval scripture.” She felt like _Indiana Jones_ trying to find the Arc of Covenant with some ancient tome.

“I can change the font if you like.”

The black-haired teen looked straight at the demon with a stunned stare. “You could’ve done that? Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?”

JD’s easy-going grin slowly morphed into a sheepish smile. “Because I didn’t know you’d have trouble reading it?”

The only reaction Veronica had to his answer was slapping a hand to her forehead, quietly rethinking all of her life choices.

* * *

✬JD✬

The demon leaned against the wall while his potential Contractor sat on the stairs, ignoring all the students forced to move around her while they climbed and descended. JD kept his promise to not go after any more humans until the contract got signed, but so far the girl had yet to put her John Hancock on the dotted line. It was well passed 9:35 when they left the boy’s bathroom and the slowly reawaking freshman. All through the rest of Veronica’s morning classes she put her entire focus on reading the newly revamped contract and hadn’t lifted her head for anything. Not even when the last lunch bell rang. JD asked if she was even hungry, but she insisted that she was fine. The demon could’ve told her that he could hear her stomach growling since 11:30 AM, but decided to keep it to himself. JD glanced over at the clock in the hallway and read the time.

1:18 PM.

If JD’s math was correct there was only one hour and seventeen minutes left before the deadline. The demon dared to glance at Veronica to see how far she had gotten. He started to sweat when he saw she had just reached the mid-way point.

“How can you only have read halfway through the damn contract?” he asked in disbelief, no one else but Veronica was able to hear him.

Veronica raised her head up for the first time since the bathroom incident and threw him a glare. She picked up the contract with both hands, stood up and hurried down to an empty classroom. Along the way Veronica made sure to subtly motion for JD to follow her. Not that she needed to but he appreciated her thoughtfulness. The interior of the room was abnormal from the setup the demon had seen in the other rooms had been prowling. The desks were all pushed to the walls while longer tables covered most of the remaining space. There were large square boxes with paper on the bottom and strange openings on the top. JD heard they were called ‘printers’, though they looked nothing like the kind he had seen the last time he was in the Mortal Plain. There were papers spilled everywhere on the walls, tables and floor, all of them detailing events that the demon didn’t recognize but assumed were important to the humans.

“This is where the yearbook committee meets up to, well, work on the yearbook. I don’t know why I needed to explain that, the name is self-explanatory,” Veronica said with a sigh.

“Much obliged for the explanation,” the demon said, distracted with all the modern technology. He tentatively poked at a small square box that seemed to have a black mirror shoved inside it. “Is this like one of those television boxes I’ve heard so much about?” he asked with intrigue.

Veronica shrugged. “If you mean it draws people into its screen and act like zombies, then yes.”

JD grinned excitedly. “It creates zombies? .... You weren’t being serious, were you?” When she gave him a very unimpressed stare the demon took that as a yes.

“Getting back on topic, the reason I brought us here is because I know the girl that runs the yearbook committee and she always tells me that during this period this place is barren and I didn’t want anybody see me talking to an invisible demon.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t anybody thinking you’re crazy,” JD said while doing the loose screw motion with a finger and made his eyes swirl, which only made Veronica grimace. He stopped at once when he realized she didn’t find his joke funny.

“Now, to answer your question I have no idea how to read most of this contract,” she said while holding the large stack of papers in her hands. “A lot of the words seem to be contradicting themselves. Like for example, there’s one page here that talks about how signing on a Friday during a new moon means that certain limitations can be wavered. But then on twenty pages after that there’s a passage here that says limitations can only be wavered during a Lunar Eclipse and then it says the same thing but replaces the day with a Thursday **and** if Venus is aligned with Mercury. Care to explain why the Hell is going on here?”

“Uhh,” JD looked away, so not to be tempted to give her the truthful answer. “Maybe it’s a series of typos?” He gave her a nervous smile.

“There’s no way I can read this whole thing before 2:35.” She sighed in defeat. Veronica sat on a desk and put her face in her hands. “Why didn’t I just pretend that I was sick this morning so I’d have more time to read this? Oh, right because my mom saw me earlier looking fine and would know right away that I was lying and Heather would think I was being a wuss for skipping if I didn’t let her pick me up,” she lamented.

“Hey, there’s still time left,” JD said. He kneeled in front of Veronica while trying to give her one of his winning smiles to boost her confidence back up. “You don’t need to give up so soon.”

“Maybe this is my punishment for everything I’ve done since becoming a Heather,” she murmured. “I should just accept my fate and get this over with.”

“No, there’s still time. You can’t quit now.” JD said, sounding rather desperate.

Veronica raised a curious brow at him. “Why do you care if my soul gets taken away? I thought you’d like that because it means your human eating binge will go uninterrupted.”

JD’s eyes shifted. “Yeah… that’s why you gotta sign the contract, or else I’ll devour all your friends and loved ones souls.” He attempted to appear frightening by baring his fangs at Veronica, but she wasn’t buying it.

“You told me a couple hours ago that you don’t like killing people in order to get their soul energy,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

JD fought back the human urge to gulp, as he didn’t want to show any signs of weakness towards her.

“There’s a reason you want me to sign the contract, isn’t there? Something you’re not telling me?” She gave him a brooding stare, scrutinizing him. 

The demon tried to keep his expression indifferent but found it very hard to do so with her blue eyes pouring right into his. There was something hypnotic about them. Almost other-wordly, even. When his silence didn’t give the answer Veronica was looking for she moved off of the desk—making JD step back so he wouldn’t collide with her—and carried the contract over to another unusual box that hung over a large rubbish bin— _Trash can,_ his mind corrected him out of instinct.

“What is that?” JD asked, his voice started to become tense.

“This is a shredder,” Veronica explained casually. “It’s what humans use when there’s something on a paper we don’t like. Like a misspelling, blotched ink, or embarrassing photos we never want to see the light of day again.”

She slowly brought the contract right over the shredder while holding a very unemotional expression. Then as an extra measure, Veronica pressed a button to turn the machine on.

“W-what are you doing?” JD silently berated himself for the stutter and how frightened he allowed himself to sound.

“I’ll turn this so-called contract into compost unless you tell me the truth,” Veronica demanded.

“Don’t.” His more ferocious persona returned full force as he marched over to where Veronica stood. “Do you have any idea how much energy I had to use to materialize that over to the Mortal Plain?”

“Enough that you’ll tell what’s really going on here?” she challenged. Veronica took a step back from him, but twisted her foot to make it look like she was about to trip. Her grip on the contract loosened and one of the slips of paper started to slide out of the stack…

“NO!” JD shouted while taking the contract away from Veronica, knowing she was only pretending to fall to get to him.

It worked.

“FINE!” JD threw his hands up after his outburst. “I can only stay on Earth if you sign the contract.” He could only glare at the pleased expression on Veronica’s face.

“Now was that so hard to say?” she asked in sweet little voice, giving him a coy look as she pressed her index finger against her cheek.

JD growled then stuck his forked tongue out with a loud hiss.

He was beginning to regret the times he disregarded the warnings his dear uncle told him about. Maybe he did have a reason trying to keep him barred from Earth.

**End of Chapter 5**

* * *

**Q-A:** Happy Halloween folks! Not a very spooky chapter, but hey hearing about demon lore is always exciting, right? And learning more about JD’s likes and dislikes is pretty interesting. Thanks for all the kudos. I’m super thankful for being noticed. :)

Hannibal Lecture first appeared in the novels Red Dragon (1981) and Silence of the Lambs (1988). I wasn’t referring to the 1991 film just to be clear.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	7. “Emit dnoces a denmad eb ll’I.…”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a bargain is made between Veronica and JD.

❦Veronica❦

Inside the yearbook committee room a recently triumphant Veronica dropped her pleased front and quickly replaced with a far more pissed off expression. She stood in front of the demon that was clutching the several hundred-page contract in his hands.

“So you weren’t going to eat anybody if I didn’t sign?” she asked, wanting everything to be clear.

“Yes,” he said, displaying great discontent towards her. “All the little humans up here would be perfectly fine until some other idiot gets the bright idea to summon a demon and then it’ll be their problem.”

“So, you lied to me in order to trick me to sign the contract?” Veronica said, positively fuming.

JD shifted his red and brown slit eyes at her. “What’s the big deal? Your soul is already tainted anyway. Like not signing the contract would make much of a difference.”

“It would mean that I have consent to all of this—something you said to me you want out of a partnership—which I totally don’t have from you, hypocrite.” The last word caused JD to wince considerably, but he continued to glare at her.

“I don’t want to form a contract with you or any other demon,” she said truthfully.

The demon barked a laugh. “Do you want to die in less than an hour? That’s what’ll happen to you if you don’t sign,” he reminded her.

Veronica sighed, her heart feeling like lead. “Maybe I deserve to.” She frowned sadly, lowering her head in shame. She heard JD sigh and moved from where he stood until he was right in front of her shoes. When she looked up she saw him staring at her with a thoughtful expression.

“You do realize what you’d be giving up if you did that, right?” he asked, sounding very serious. “If you sign, your life won’t be taken away too soon. Your life will be the same like any other mortal’s. You can die from natural causes, getting shot, run over—or down Below—you could kill yourself if you wanted. That’s the thing; you get to decide what you want. And what I said about being your servant and doing what you want is true. You could, I don’t know, get back at all the people who wronged you? Those Heathers you keep talking about sound like some nice targets to start wtith. Maybe those jocks that pick on all the lesser kids? It’s all about what you want.”

_What I want._ Veronica thought. _What I want is to be in control of the situation. The only way I could do that is…_ and that was when it hit her.

* * *

_“…You shouldn’t let the words of one ginger bimbo control your choices.”_

_Veronica sighed tiredly, having heard that old song in her head so many times before. “Yeah, well, once I have something more powerful than Heather’s seemingly endless bank account, I’ll be sure to clue you in.”_

* * *

Veronica got an idea. A crazy, irresponsible, inescapable, irreversible, inexorable, downright insane idea.

“What I want… is to make a difference.” 

“And how are you planning on doing that?” he asked her, quizzically.

“With your power,” she said, pointing at him. “You said you could do anything I want, so what I want is to make everything about my hometown a better place, especially at my high school. Sometimes I can’t help but think Westerberg isn’t a high school but the Thunderdome. My own personal Hell.” Veronica hoped Hell wasn’t going to look exactly like Westerberg when she died.

“Trust me, down Below is way worst than some educational facility,” JD said with a lazy eye-roll. “And what’s a Thunderdome?”

“Movie reference to a film that came out in 1985,” she explained, already guessing what his response would be.

“I don’t know pop culture references from after-” “1919” she said in unity with him.

The demon threw her a pout. “Why do you keep insisting on saying things I don’t understand? It makes me feel like I’m a goop and you’re being a Wisenheimer on purpose.”

“Have you looked at a mirror lately?” She placed her hands over her hips, giving him a judging stare.

“We aren’t exactly able to date on what the Mortal Plain is like down Below,” JD said, getting annoyed. “I’d use some idiom to describe how much I hate that place, but I have a feeling it would just go over your head.” 

“You hate living in Hell?” she asked, surprised.

He gave her an arched brow. “Would you like to live in a place that’s dark, dreary and everyone treats you like a piece of shit for no reason?”

Veronica was bowled over by what JD just said. She had thought that demons would like to live that way. The way he acted and things he said didn’t hint that he hated living in the place he was born in. Or at least she guessed that he was since all demons came from Hell. Didn’t they?

Instead of expressing sympathy (something that she was sure he didn’t deserve yet), Veronica shrugged and said, “Honestly that pretty much sums up Westerberg in a nutshell.”

“Then why do you want to help it if you hate the place?”

“It’s not Westerberg in general that I want to help, it’s the students.” She sighed. “Before everybody hit puberty we were all so friendly and nice to one another. Baking cookies, eating paste. I used to play tag with the kids who’d go on to be part of the Country Club clique and the football jocks. Until Fifth Grade I saw Ram Sweeny and Kurt Kelly—the designated Guy Alphas—as my friends…. But then when we got bigger that somehow triggered this change in all of us. Boys who wore glasses and had zits first were being picked on out of nowhere. Girls who are skinny and no breasts we make fun of while girls who have boobs, but are considered overweight are given insulting nicknames like lard ass or-or wide-load.”

Veronica became quiet for a minute.

“Veronica?” JD questioned. Instinctively he started reaching out at first but caught himself and then he pulled his hand away.

The black-haired girl shook her head, pretending she hadn’t seen his action. “The point is, once we were all shoved into Westerberg, the hierarchy became based on who was the richest, best looking, most athletic while those who didn’t have that were put at the bottom of the food chain. I’m so tired of things being that way. I want Westerberg to be a better place than when I leave it. I want to do some real good for once and… maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“Well, I just thought of this crazy idea,” Veronica began, “that if I used your powers to make things change for the better, maybe it’ll make the people in charge where you're from to think that I’m too good of a person to be sent to Hell?”

The demon stared at her for a full second before he burst out laughing. He sobered up quickly after noticing Veronica’s displeased expression.

“You seriously think making me do nice deeds will automatically erase the target on your soul?” JD questioned with a straight face. “You do realize that doing good deeds for the sake of getting something in return kinda negates the whole selfless act thing you’re trying to pull.”

Veronica rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I dunno, maybe because it’s the right thing to do? Maybe I want to be nice because I like it?”

JD laughed again, gentler that time. “What you just said brings up another good point. Nobody does anything nice with no strings attached. Even so-called saints like Nicholas did good deeds for the less fortunate ‘cause he was told to think that way and he just didn’t think prostitution was a wholesome profession. If somebody ever does something nice either it’s the obvious and they want something out of you, or it’s to clear their conscience like you’re planning to.”

“You really don’t think it’s possible to do nice things without getting something in return?” she asked, shocked to hear such a cynical viewpoint from somebody other than Heather Chandler.

“I’m absolutely positive on that,” JD said sincerely.

Veronica carried on, “I’m gonna prove to you that I can do good deeds for the sake of it.”

The demon snorted, smoke shot out from his nose as though he had recently taken a heavy drag of smoke, which Veronica knew wasn’t the case. “I’d like to see you try, darling.” He handed her the contract back. “I’m pretty sure those pile of papers there won’t work with your ‘selfless’ wish. It’s for the more classic fame and fortune type of contract, you see.”

“Well, if the old contract won’t be suitable for what I specially want then why don’t I just write up my own contract.” Veronica decided.

JD was taken aback. “What?”

“You heard me. I’m want to make my own contract that suits my needs.”

“….I’ll be damned a second time.” He almost sounded impressed.

“I guess no human ever tried that before? Not even Jebez Stone?” she teasingly asked.

“Who?”

“He’s a main character from the _Devil and Daniel Webster_ , a book,” Veronica elaborated.

“Was it written before or after 1919?” the demon questioned.

“…After.” Veronica frowned.

“Well, now you know why I don’t know it.”

“You really have missed out on a lot in the last 70 years,” Veronica said. “Anyway, I’m gonna start writing.”

“Just be careful with how you write it,” he warned. “The more demands you make the more likely your soul will remain tainted.”

“Why?”

“Because putting a lot of limitations on a demon is like controlling their free will,” JD explained.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked skeptically.

“Guess you just have to trust me,” he answered with a wry grin.

Veronica held a very dry look. “I think I know what my first rule is going to be.”

“You better get to it. You have about 50 minutes left before the deadline hits,” JD said while pointing at the wall clock above their heads.

“All I need is forty-five,” she said with a confident grin while holding her pen and paper, eager to get started on her new project. Veronica grabbed a page from the contract in order to copy the font and words.

This was going to be the most important forgery of her entire life.

**_~45 Minutes Later~_ **

✬JD✬

Demons don’t fall asleep. They have no reason to as their anatomy is unlike a human’s weaker, feebler form. Demons only feel replenished after they feed. Once they have enough soul energy they could stay invigorated up to a full thirty days as long as they don’t excessively use their magic and drain out their reserves all at once.

JD wasn’t like other demons, though. Several minutes after Veronica started to work on her biggest forgery project yet, JD became bored. Boredom was something no demon should have to endure, but he couldn’t leave the room because the human told him to never leave her sight. Under different circumstances JD would’ve found her steadfastness endearing, but at that moment he wanted to find something to do. The demon never liked staying in one place for too long as a result from his old days as a vagabond. Being stuck in the room with not even a book to get his mind wandering made him restless. To make matters worse Veronica told him he needed to stop messing with all the technology as it was an unwanted distraction for her and she needed the quiet to concentrate. Hence why the demon chose to rest his eyes for what he thought were a few moments until he felt someone shoving him awake.

“Time to up and at ‘em, Sleeping Beauty,” Veronica said right in his peripheral vision.

JD let out a groan while stretching his joints.

“I can’t believe you were able to sleep on the floor,” the ebony-haired girl noted.

“Just because I’m able to doesn’t mean I probably should’ve,” he stated, pushing his thumbs roughly into his lower back.

“With how motionless you were I almost thought you were dead,” Veronica said, a bit perturbed.

“Maybe I already am,” he remarked with a sarcastic smile. JD watched the girl’s expected reaction of sighing and rolling her blue eyes at him before picking up a sheet of paper from a nearby table. “Anyway, here’s the draft I’ve worked on. I’ll let you read it first, but remember that we only have five minutes left before… well, you know.” She shrugged, holding an indifferent look, though JD could sense her anxiety through her aura.

“You only have one page for the revamped contract?” he asked incredulously after giving a quick scan on the front and back.

Veronica frowned. “You said it yourself the less demands I make, the better the chance I have of saving my soul from damnation.”

“True, so how many rules did you write out for little ol’ me?” he humorously asked her.

She poked his face, directing it so his eyes were on the paper again. “Read it yourself, Demon Boy.”

“The correct term would be Demon **Man**.”

“Just read it already. We’ve only got four minutes left now.”

JD flicked the paper with both hands to smooth it out before he sat down in a chair and really looked at the document. The first thing he noted was that Veronica did copy the original font perfectly, which she had to have done from memory since he hadn’t changed it back yet. After allowing himself to be impressed for a moment the demon read the contract.

Acknowledgements:

Name of Contractor: Veronica Wynona Sawyer

Name of Hireling: JD

Terms:

This contract was written and signed on September 16, 1989. Its objective is for the Contractor to lent aid in order to improve the noxious environment within the compounds of Sherwood, Ohio. The Contractor will implement the contract’s termination date when she says, “You have fulfilled your services.”

  1. The Demonic Hireling—JD knew that meant him from the previous contract—must always be honest with their Contractor on everything. No vague responses, no bullshit. Just the straight truth.



JD chuckled at the use of profanity in the rule, but felt it fit the spirit of a soul-selling pact in a way. He continued on.

  1. The Demonic Hireling can only do what the Contractor orders when _ Veronica Sawyer_ specially says: “I, Veronica, command you, JD, to…”
  2. The Demonic Hireling must never tempt the Contractor into doing anything sinful. Or onto anyone else. This would be in violation to the contract’s objective.
  3. Acts of violence are strictly prohibited unless either/both the Demonic Hireling or Contractor are in a real life and death situation. The Demonic Hireling must ask the Contractor permission first before performing acts of Dark Magic.
  4. While under the contract the only person the Demonic Hireling is allowed to feed off of is the Contractor. No one else.



None of these rules must be broken, or else the contract will become null and void.

Signatures:

Veronica Wynona Sawyer_______ 

JD_______

“So I can only get energy from you, huh?” He glanced at the human. _This ought to make things interesting._

Veronica’s frown deepened and then crossed her arms. “Just don’t get any ideas, Demon Boy.”

“Demon Man,” JD automatically corrected. “If I may add one last thing.”

“What?” Veronica asked warily.

The demon opened his palm, silently asking for her pen. After Veronica reluctantly gave her writing utensil to him the demon quickly wrote down something before handing the paper to the girl. She noticed that he only made two changes in the entire contract.

Name of Hireling: ~~JD~~ Jason Dean

Jason Dean ~~JD~~ _______

“I figured you’d want to make things more official,” he said after noticing her staring at him.

“Jason Dean is your name? No, wait sorry, that’s a stupid question.” Veronica shook her head. “I mean, why did you introduce yourself as JD when we first met?”

Jason Dean held an uncomfortable look for the first time. “I don’t like going by my original name. Only two people still call me that and I’m not on the best of speaking terms with them.” He really didn’t want to reopen those old wounds.

Veronica seemed to get the gist of it fast enough and thankfully didn’t press for more information.

“Wait, so do you have a connection with the Dean House?”

“Dean House?” JD hadn’t heard of that before. Unless, she was referring to-

“Never mind,” she shook her head, dismissively. “So does everything else about the paper seem alright by you?” she asked.

“Seems pretty legitimate to me,” the demon admitted. “Granted this is the first time I’m doing something like this.”

“You’ve never done the whole selling-your-soul-contract-thing before?”

“Had to do what it took to get the literal Hell out of Hell,” JD said, smiling at his own joke. “Alright, so now all we need to do is sign.”

“Please tell me we don’t use blood like in the movies and books,” Veronica pleaded.

JD smiled. “We are going to sign with blood like in the movies and books.”

After seeing the blanched reaction Veronica uttered JD tried to console her. 

“It’s just going to be a little small dab. It’s not like we’ve have to make a blood pact. That would be pretty unhealthy,” the demon mused. With a small needle JD conjured up he poked a tiny hole into his left index finger. He created another needle for Veronica to use and she unenthusiastically jabbed her right finger, looking very unwilling about the whole situation. Wordlessly, JD instructed her to move her finger over the line beside her printed name while he did the same on his. They both lowered their fingers until they were touching the paper and slowly wrote their signatures in red.

“Now what?” she asked with a small hint of worry.

“I just need to say the incantation to seal the deal,” JD stated before he stood up. He raised his hands over the contract and closed his eyes. With a small amount a power from his reserves the demon uttered the spell,

**“Noitazilivic namuh fo dne eht ’lit. Trap ew od noddegamrA ro htaed litnu rehto hcae ot dednuob era ew, noitazilanif s’tcap eht litnu dna htrof yad siht morf.”**

As he spoke the contract’s edges started to catch fire by a concealed flame. JD could see Veronica try to reach out to the paper. She probably thought the fire was a hazard and wanted to prevent it from spreading. JD had to hold her back with one hand until he finished the spell and the fire ate up the paper, leaving nothing, not even a pile of ash.

“Where did the contract go?”

JD tapped his chest. “Look under your shirt.”

“You better not look. I mean—I Veronica Sawyer command you, JD, to not look at me until I tell you to.”

JD felt a great invisible tug, as though an unseen hand was pulling his chin. He had no choice but to turn away from Veronica as she had ordered him to. JD was going to have to get used to that. The demon stood there, staring at the wall then heard her yelp.

“WHY IS THE CONTRACT TATTOOED ON MY CHEST?!”

“The same thing happened on mine,” JD said in an attempt to placate her.

“That’s not the damn point. How am I supposed to explain this to my parents if they see me without my shirt on? Or how can I ever go swimming in a bikini again?”

“There’s always swimming after dark,” he suggested pleasantly. “I could even be your designated swimming pal so you don’t drown.”

“I already regret signing the contract with you.”

JD heard her clothes ruffling once more and discovered he could turn his head again. He looked and saw a very irritated looking Veronica.

“Well, I’m afraid there’s no backies. And it’s not like you can rip the contract anyway,” he said while pulling up his shirt to reveal his new tattoo that matched hers.

The girl paled. “Great.”

“Face it, darling, you’re stuck with me for a long time.”

Instead of getting angry like JD assumed Veronica’s annoyed mien slowly morphed into a smirk.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” the demon asked worriedly.

“I, Veronica Sawyer, command you, JD, to slap yourself.”

He ‘pfft’ at her. “There’s no way I’ll do-”

SLAP!

JD gaped after realizing what he had done. The smirk on Veronica’s face only grew.

“Again.” she said.

“No-no I won-”

SLAP!

“Again,” Veronica ordered in a light tone.

SLAP!

“Opposition dammit, will you stop-”

“Again.”

SLAP!

“What did I ever do to you?” he shouted in despair, even though he was already aware of what he actually did.

“Again.”

SLAP!

“I’m not enjoying this at all.” It wasn’t kinky enough for him and thus had no boner to speak of.

“Hmm, then do it **harder** next time.”

  
  
“For the love of-”

SLAAAAAAP~!

It was at this point that JD began to think that maybe he had been hasty in his choice of accepting a master-servant summons. All JD could do was glare darkly at the proud human as his right cheek went numb.

He really didn’t mean to sign up for this nonsense.

**End of Chapter 6**

* * *

**Q-A:** And that’s the end of our first act. Now you all know the full “summary” of the story and next time we’ll finally go into the meat of the premise. I’m really excited, how about you? :D

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	8. “Ot tnaw uoy ekil em ssik ot evah uoy“

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s lunchtime, but not for whom you’re initially thinking it is. ;)

❦Veronica❦

As satisfying as it was to make the demon boy slap himself silly Veronica knew it wasn’t enough to get her mind to stop focusing on the big picture.

She had just signed her soul to a devil and she was now living on borrowed time until she would have to go to Hell after death. Veronica had to come up with a good plan to save her soul from damnation. Somehow.

_God, I suddenly wish_ Daniel Webster _were here right now to help me._ she thought despondently before shaking her head. _No, I just need to do what I set out to do. I can do this._

With a determined nod Veronica straightened herself and grabbed her purse. “Okay, it’s time to go,” she declared after looking at the clock to see it was getting close to 2PM.

“No more slaps,” the demon said worriedly. JD rubbed his semi-swollen face while he looked at her.

Veronica almost laughed at how intimidated the taller being acted. “I think you’ve been punished enough… for now at least—until you pull some other stunt without warning me first. For now on I, Veronica Sawyer, want you, JD, to not keep any more secrets or unexpected surprises from me. Go it?”

“Your wish is my command,” the demon said sarcastically, causing the black-haired girl to roll her eyes at him.

“C’mon,” she waved at him to follow her. “I’ve used up my free period to come in here and this place is going to fill up in five minutes if we don’t leave it now.” As soon as Veronica said that and opened the door her head collided with a busty form and nearly knocked herself over.

“Veronica,” Heather Duke groaned while scowling at her. “You almost knocked me in to Heather.”

“Gosh, can you believe how clumsy she is, Heather?” Heather McNamara asked Heather Chandler who was standing behind the other two.

“They’re all named Heather?” JD whispered to Veronica, even though she was the only person that could hear him. Veronica wanted to shush him but couldn’t since she was standing directly in front of the Heathers.

“What were you doing in the Yearbook room Veronica?” Heather asked, scrutinizing the shorter girl. “Smoking a joint?” the redhead teased.

The brunette Heather frowned angrily. “You better not’ve been. I wouldn’t be able to explain to my teacher why the room smells likes marijuana.”

“No, no I wasn’t doing anything like that,” Veronica insisted to ward off the girls wild claims before they went into the school’s rumor mill. “I had this—make up test for history I needed to work on and wanted someplace that was quiet.”

“You couldn’t do that in study hall?” the blonde asked.

Veronica gave her a flat look. “I repeat I wanted someplace that was **quiet**.”

Heather blinked. “Oh, right.” She then giggled nervously after realizing how dumb she must’ve seemed. Everybody knew that the study hall in school could get just as loud as the school’s weekly pep rallies with how the teacher in charge continuously left the room to go on a smoke break.

Heather Chandler let out a hum before lifting her shoulders into a shrug. “Well, you better remember for next time to ask Heather if you could borrow the yearbook room.”

“I promise,” Veronica said, holding back an eye-roll at how demanding her fearless leader was. But to be fair, she should’ve asked Heather or a teacher’s permission first.

“Anyway where were you at the caf? I needed like four different forgeries and you weren’t there. Heather and I were thinking you were pulling a Heather and going to the restroom for—well, you know.” She and the Heather in yellow giggled while Heather Duke frowned in discomfort.

Veronica cleared her throat to get their attention back on her. She was so beyond the bulimic jokes by this point. “I had to work really hard on getting the test answers correct so I spent my lunch period away from the caf in here. Sorry.”

“Oooh that sounded like a lie, Veronica. Lying isn’t a very virtuous thing,” the demon said in a teasing voice.

Veronica slapped his face. She then told the girls she felt a mosquito near her ear.

As the girls started to walk down the hall Heather Chandler held a calculating stare at Veronica. “You know, I don’t remember Ms. Church giving out make-up tests outside of class-” Heather McNamara cut her out with a sharp yelp.

“What’s your damage Heather?” the redhead demanded.

The blonde whimpered. “I’m sorry, but for a second I thought I saw some weird looking guy walking right behind Veronica.”

Veronica’s pupils shrunk in fear as she heard a loud exhale behind her.

“Ineedtogo,” she said in a rush, grabbing JD’s semi-transparent coat sleeve. Veronica rushed down the hall, disregarding the angry exclamations from Heather Chandler and the random classmates she kept bumping into. The ebony-haired girl eventually found another empty hall and came across an unlocked and empty supply closet the janitors used.

_Out of all the places to hide I have to go with this?_ she thought incredulously, but realized that all the other classrooms had people in them, so she had no other options. Veronica then decided to suck it up and pushed JD and then herself inside the walk-in cupboard.

“What was that about?” she said right after locking the door behind her and making sure to cover up the door’s window so no one could see them.

“My glamour spell is wearing off,” the demon replied. There was blatant fear in his tone.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“You don’t get it. I’m not just becoming visible again, but my more demonic side is coming out against my will.”

“What?” Veronica fondled around the walls until she found the light switch and gasped after seeing that he was telling the truth. Patches of JD’s human skin was replaced with his true short fur pelt. His ears and teeth become pointy and his antlers more angular and bigger with each passing second. She also noticed that something was trying to protrude from under his trench coat.

“And my wings really want to get out but there is literally no room for them in here unless we both want to get squished,” JD said with a strained face. It was clear that he was trying very hard to fight back the shifting but couldn’t.

“Why is this happening?” Veronica managed to ask.

“Because my energy is nearly gone,” he answered in a weakened voice. “Turns out that freshman from earlier wasn’t enough to give me back my full strength. If I don’t get more soul energy soon, I’ll be back in my true form and I’m pretty neither of us want other people seeing me looking like this.” JD finished while gesturing to his misshapen appearance.

_Shit, he’s right._ Veronica thought. If somebody alive at school saw him it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out about her connection to him and try to run her out of town. _Or worse,_ she fought back a shudder.

“So, this means I have to…” she trailed off after her eyes shifted to look at him again.

The demon formed a crooked smile but stopped after Veronica recoiled from his fangs. “Just like the contract states, I can only get energy from you and you can’t deny me my feeding.”

“Do you really have to say it like that?” she questioned with repulsion.

“What? You’d rather I go the romantic route and say that I need your love or something else equally saccharine?”

“No,” she denied, turning her head away so he could see her reddening face. Veronica did not find his lowered voice sexy. She definitely did not.

“Look, it’s not like I’m asking for sex here. We just need to kiss until things get a little warm in here, if you catch my drift.” he continued to say in that low voice of his.

“I get it, you don’t have to go into any further details,” she said right away.

“Somebody’s looking a little hot around the collar,” the demon said, inching closer to her. “We haven’t even gotten started, darling.”

“I, Veronica Sawyer, command you to step back,” she barked at him.

JD did exactly as she ordered, conveying a flummoxed look. “What’s your problem? I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, well, you failed.” she snapped back.

“Is it because of the kissing or something else?” he asked as his smile returned while he looked deeply at her.

_Crap, he must’ve saw me blushing after all,_ the black-haired girl thought.

“Are you a virgin?” he asked in the same manner a person would with wanting the salt passed to them at the dinner table.

Veronica sighed. “So what if I am? Why does everybody get so touchy about whether or not you have had sex with someone? I mean, really, why does everyone treat it like it’s some big rite of passage.” She let out a puff of air. “It can’t be that great.”

“Okay, first: it **can** be great, all you need is the right, willing partner,” JD said while holding up a finger. “And second: I wasn’t trying to get your personal life—though, I am a bit flattered that you were willing to talk to me about this—but I wasn’t trying to ‘virgin-shame’ you or whatever people call it. I just assumed that you aren’t comfortable with copulating with a demon.”

“You got that right. I don’t want to have sexual intercourse with a son of Satan,” she said pointedly.

“Ha, I’m not even close to being related to that Guy.” JD exhaled a huff, frowning. “I’d rather jump in the River Styx if I was His son.”

“… Okay,” she decided it would be wise to not open that can of worms and change the subject. “So, all we need to do is kiss and you’ll be able to use your powers again?”

“That’s correct.”

Veronica gave him a stare at first but knew he wasn’t lying due to the contract in play.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Just let me close my eyes while I do it. I don’t want to look at you.”

The demon flinched at the barb. “I’m that hideous, huh?”

“No,” she lied. “I just-”

“You don’t have to pretend for my sake. I know I’m a monster.”

Well, at least he admitted it unlike the other boys at her school, Veronica thought ruefully before looking at him again. Further of JD’s monstrous aspects became more visible to her. It really felt like she was in the plot of a Lovecraft novella.

_Get it together, Veronica. You’ve kissed boys before… Just not ones from Hell with_ Jaws _teeth. God, I hope he doesn’t try to French me._ With a heavy sigh Veronica leaned forward until her lips crashed against his.

* * *

✬JD✬

JD had kissed plenty of women before, both demonic and human. With Veronica it was different than all of those females.

She was a shitty kisser.

Don’t get JD wrong, Veronica wasn’t the **worst** , but she definitely was very far away from being the best he had in the past. The way she just pressed her lips right over his, almost causing their noses to push together made the moment feel awkward. How she had her hands tightly clasp his shirt kind of hurt and it was clear to him that she was not enjoying the experience at all.

“Okay, that’s enough,” he said after he slowly and gently pushed her off.

“I suck at kissing right?” she said with a frown. “My 8th Grade boyfriend said I wasn’t really great either.”

The demon sighed. “I don’t give a damn what your ex thinks, I’m here to tell you what I have to say. But you are right, you’re pretty bad, but I could tell you weren’t trying to do it on purpose.”

Veronica frowned and crossed her arms. “I just don’t like being forced into things.”

“No you clearly don’t,” he said in agreement before he smiled. “That’s why we should try a different approach.”

“Like what?”

“You have to kiss me like you want to. Are you able to do that, Veronica?” he asked, not trying to sound mean when he said it, but perfectly genuine.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

The seventeen-year-old pursed her lips, a part of her noted that she hadn’t taste anything from JD after their mouths touched. Odd, but probably something related to his demonic genetics or something. Veronica pushed that thought away before it became a full tangent and focused on the person before her. What Veronica really wanted was for things to back to the way they were ~~last ye~~ before Friday morning. That’s what she really meant. 

“I, guess, I want it to be gentle,” she suggested halfheartedly. “Nothing rough or feeling rushed.”

“Like what you were doing a minute before?” he jested.

Veronica threw him a stern glare, which deflated him just a bit.

“Okay, I’ll admit that I wasn’t acting very willing, but can you blame me? The last thing I want is my second kiss to be with-”

“A demon,” he supplied, his voice coming off as flat.

Veronica gave him a meaningful look. “Somebody that I don’t like.”

The wince he made almost made Veronica pity the demon. Almost.

“Look,” he said a while later, appearing a bit tired. “I know this isn’t the most ideal situation for either of us. Down Below, we’re in a utility closet right now with floor wax and toilet scrubbers a centimeter away from my wings. But I can’t transform into a more human-like appearance or make myself invisible until you express some form of Lust or another sin. Unless I stay here for the whole day, we’re both out of options since I can’t take any energy from anyone but you.”

Veronica was really starting to get tired at how rational JD’s words were. She never thought she’d find herself agreeing with a demon before, but there was a first time for everything, she supposed.

“Alright,” she said in defeat. “What do I need to do?”

“Nothing,” he said. “This time let me do all the work.”

He had to have noticed how stiff she became after hearing what he just said. JD placed his hands on her shoulders and made no attempts of lowering them, Thank God. Instead he moved them higher until they gently cupped the sides of her face and his thumbs brushed against her cheeks. Veronica noticed how his digits felt as though they resembled the pads on animal paws while his nails were much longer and sharper than she remembered seeing earlier. She tried to ignore how weird this all felt, knowing JD really couldn’t control the way he was and waited while her heart beated wildly against her ribcage.

“Has anybody told you how beautiful you are?” he whispered, his lips inches away from hers.

“I wha-” JD didn’t let her finished, as he was too busy placing his lips on her.

* * *

✬JD✬

The Kiss Take Two was so much better than the last one by a long shot. JD liked seeing the gob-smacked look she in her eyes momentarily before closing them after fully becoming accepting of the kiss. Somehow her lips felt softer than the first time and they molded so well against his. And hearing her surprised yelp melt into a soft sigh only excited the demon even further.

_Don’t coerce her into doing something she doesn’t want,_ JD reminded himself. _I need her to want this too._

So the demon went with the techniques he was most familiar with using in order to gain the right response. JD slowly rubbed one of thumbs over her cheek to help Veronica relax while his other hand went back to her shoulder to push her closer to him. His wings circled around her as a sort of protective shield, though it was more out of instincts than magic. He carefully exhaled through his nose while making sure she had plenty of air to breathe and pulled himself back. That was the one problem he had with mortal women. They always needed that little annoying thing called oxygen. It always got in the way of kissing. The small break didn’t end things there. No siree Bob, JD instead moved his lips over onto Miss Sawyer’s lovely little neck and nibbled a little there. He made sure that only the very tips of his fangs brushed against her skin so not to pierce it. Even though his demonic half was very tempted to savor her blood, wondering how it tasted while it was still fresh. Thankfully he didn’t need to succumb to those dangerous thoughts when he finally started to sense the unbridled lust coming off from Veronica.

Ohh, and how delicious it was. JD thought he had sampled all the best kinds of lust before (both human and demon), but nothing truly held a candle to how raw and open Veronica's was to him. He supposed there was something good that came from taking the energy from a high school virgin.

“Are you good?” her breathless voice drew him out of the haze his mind was in.

JD was tempted to ignore her and just embrace his primordial feelings and take her right there and then, **but** he couldn’t. And it wasn’t simply because he was ordered not to. He knew that if the circumstances were different she would never want this. Not really.

_She would never want you,_ a terribly dark part of his mind whispered before he stomped it away. With heavy reluctance JD pulled his mouth off of Veronica’s neck and breathed out a sigh once he felt his full power returning to him.

“Do you have enough energy?” she asked, her face completely flushed.

He nodded. “I should be fine for a week, give or take a day,” the demon added jokily.

“Good,” Veronica said while adjusting her blouse and then pulled out a mirror from her bag. “Great, now I have this major looking hickey. Thanks JD,” she said sarcastically.

The demon rolled his eyes. “Would you rather I bit you?”

Veronica gave him a deep glare. “If you did I would kick you in the balls,” she promised.

JD opened his mouth to say a smart comment until he heard banging at the door.

“Ve-ron-i-ca!” a shrill voice said while knocking at the door with each enunciation.

“Shit,” Veronica muttered. “It’s Heather. How am I going to explain to her why I blew her off and why I’m in this closet?”

JD sensed the fear radiating off his contractor and quickly found himself sympathizing with her. He could write volumes of all the times he had to hide from bigger, badder demons and superstitious humans and failing at the former. Humans, however, were much easier to fool.

“I think I have an idea,” he said to the girl.

“Well, I guess I’m desperate enough to hear you out,” she said, sounding scared.

Without warning he wrapped his arms and wings around her and said, “ **thgis ‘sehctib eht morf su laecnoc**.”

* * *

✞Heather✞

Heather couldn’t remember the last time she saw Heather act so angry. She guessed that watching Veronica leave without warning could set off the redhead’s already flaring temper. And now she along with Heather were being dragged by Heather to go find Veronica and confront her weird-ass behavior. Of course Heather knew why Veronica has been on edge since this morning, but Heather Chandler didn’t give two shits about other peoples feelings as long as they didn’t ruin her day. Unfortunately for Veronica that is what she was exactly doing.

“Some sophomore said they saw her run down this hall,” the Heather in the yellow and black plaid vest and matching skirt said.

Heather spared on glance and shrugged. “I don’t see her here. Let’s try another spot.”

“Wait,” Heather Chandler seized her shoulder. Heather winced at how strong of a grip the taller Heather had. “There’s a closet in this hallway. I swear she better not be making out with some loser she’s trying to hide.”

“But Veronica said she was done with high school boys,” Heather said in confusion.

Heather rolled her eyes while looking at her green manicured hands. “She said she was done with the boys in Westerberg.” _Not that I can blame her._

“Both of you shut up,” Heather ordered the two girls. “We need the element of surprise on our side for this little interruption,” she explained with a cat-like smirk.

Heather Duke held back a sigh. _If you_ _’_ _re really in there Veronica, I apologize in advance._

Heather walked up to the janitor’s supply closet with all the grace of a Junior Prom Queen and then hit the door repeatedly as though it was the one that offended her. “Ve-ron-i-ca!”

She looked back at the other Heathers and demanded one of them gave her a credit card to unlock the door. It was Heather’s turn to hand out her Platinum to Heather and pulled it out from her golden colored wallet. Heather watched as Heather fiddled with the lock while shimmying the credit card up and down until the three girls heard a small click.

“Okay, Veronica your time with whoever-his-name-is is over and you should just…” Heather Chandler trailed off after opening the door and her eyes stared at the closet’s interior. Heather and Heather peaked inside and were surprised to see that for once their leader was 100% wrong.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Veronica could only hold her breath in while waiting for her friends to close the door.

“I guess that sophomore was either lying or stupid,” Heather McNamara said while she lifted her arms with a shrug.

Heather Duke’s perpetual frown deepened while she glanced at Heather Chandler. “Told you she wasn’t in here.”

The redhead glared daggers at the brunette. “Shut up, Heather.”

“Sorry, Heather.”

Heather glared at the seemingly unoccupied space for another second before she eventually gave up and told her cronies that they were going to bounce and head off to their next classes.

Veronica breathed out the sigh she had been holding in as a new thought came to her.

“You made me invisible along with you?” she asked JD, frankly surprised at what he did.

The demon smiled, his fangs were now replaced with normal looking human teeth, as the rest of him appeared human, sans his eyes. “The contract said to protect you, right? Sure this technically wasn’t a life or death situation, but I’m pretty sure your social life would’ve been killed if that bitch found you here. A demon’s goal is to help his contractor in every way possible.”

“Oh,” Veronica intelligently said. She pulled a strand of her hair back while looking away. “Well, then I better get to class.” The girl hoped that her hall pass would still be seen as legit while she walked down the hall. JD followed her without any complaints.

“So,” the demon drawled while lacing his arms over his chest, “on a scale to 1 to 10 how much did you like that kiss?”

Veronica slowly felt her face heating up as the memories of the heavy make-out session replayed in her mind. She turned her head away mumbling, “1, definitely a—I wasn’t thinking that much about it. I’ll give it a 1?”

“Now, now, now, that’s your lying voice, Veronica.” The demon tsk’ed at her, waving a finger right in front of her nose. “Admit it, you actually liked it, didn’t you?”

“Remember that threat from earlier?” she reminded him pleasantly. “It still stands, which won’t be happening to you in five seconds unless you back off.”

The demon wisely took five steps back from her, leaving Veronica very satisfied as she walked down the hallway to her second to last AP class of the day. She could barely hear him say something that sounded like ‘two playing at a game’, but decided not to question it. For now Veronica was feeling good about herself.

Unfortunately things would only become more difficult from today onward.

**End of Chapter 7**

* * *

**Q-A:** You really think at this point in time JD would learn to keep his mouth shut… around Veronica’s. *Rimshot * Ha, I’m such a comedian. Speaking of which how was that for some jdronica? Not bad for my first time. Maybe I’ll also get comfortable with writing smut in the future. XD

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	9. "Ezeerf niarb"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica gets a ride. JD gets a drink. This is totally not a date.

✬JD✬

“They ditched me,” Veronica said, her tone devoid of emotions. She and JD were standing in the back lot of the school where the students parked their cars. At that moment hundreds of kids were pooling out to escape the confines of Westerberg and enjoy their weekend of freedom. The reason Veronica and the demon were on the concrete deck next to the high school was because that was where she usually got picked up by the Heathers and the four would drive out and go to whatever party they were always invited to every Friday night.

Or that’s what normally happened to Veronica. The lot right now started to become vacant with more and more kids leaving. JD was only able to watch while Veronica scanned the area; looking for that cherry red sports car her ‘friends’ drove in to pick her up. It was when she finally noticed that the vehicle was long gone that she uttered the abovementioned sentence. 

“Why would they do that?” JD questioned. He already had a bit of a feeling why, but he still wanted to hear her response.

The ebony beauty sighed. “I bet it was Heather’s doing. She always likes to punish the other Heathers and me in cruel ways if she thinks we did something wrong in her eyes.”

JD’s eyes glazed over before he let out a sigh.

“Okay, let’s pretend for a moment that I don’t know which Heather you’re referring to,” JD said sarcastically. He then wondered how unoriginal the town must be if three unrelated families had all coincidently chosen to give their respected daughter the exact same name.

Veronica frowned at him for a moment before she opened up her bag and pulled out her wallet. Inside the blue and black leather money holder was a small square shaped colored photograph. The image showed the three Heather girls with Veronica in bright gowns that matched the same colors they all had on that day. All of them, except Veronica, had very pleased looks on their faces while hers was more solemn.

“This was taken at Junior Prom last year,” Veronica said indifferently before shaking her head. She straightened her mouth into a thin line before pointing at the girl in the single-strap yellow gown. 

“The Heather in gold with the blonde hair is McNamara. She’s the head cheerleader and the second richest person in town thanks to her dad’s jewelry business. He designs engagement rings for a living.”

_She looks like a big bird in that number,_ JD thought in amusement. He remained quiet, choosing to humor the human for a few minutes.

“The Heather in green with the brown hair is Duke. She’s head of the Year Book Committee. No discernable personality, but her mom did pay for implants,” she added snidely.

JD hummed, showing zero interest in the brunette’s overtly sized bust, or the slit in the dress that displayed part of her smooth gams. He would much rather continue looking at the picture Veronica in the cute strapless baby blue gown she had on. His eyes then followed Veronica’s finger when it landed on the final Heather. She had on a glittery blood-red dress that would’ve put a Flapper to shame with how skintight and revealing it was. Her red hair was unerringly curled while flowing freely on her back. On the top of her head with a shiny silver tiara with obviously fake looking rhinestones glued on the plastic. Somehow she made the tacky accessory work with her ‘I’m Better Than Thou’ stance.

“That is Heather Chandler, daughter of the richest family in town. No matter if she’s at school or not she’s always wearing red. She is the almighty.”

“A mythic bitch,” he offered.

Veronica gave a short laugh. “Yeah, that’s basically who she is in a single phrase. Everyone may follow the Heathers, but she’s the Queen Bee. Nobody dares to say no to her. Even some of the teachers are intimidated by her.”

“And if the Heathers decided to leave you here it was most likely her idea?” he reiterated what she said earlier.

“Pretty much,” the seventeen-year-old said, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. She heaved out a loud sigh before resting her bottom on the concrete ledge, watching the last of the buses and cars leave the parking lot.

“How far is your house from here?” JD asked while looking around the street, checking to see if there were any cars nearby.

“About ten miles,” Veronica said dejectedly. “It would take me hours to get home on foot. My parents are gonna get so worried,” she wrapped her arms around her chest.

When he saw no one coming or going the demon replied with a grin, “I think you don’t need to worry anymore.”

“What is that?”

JD didn’t reply to her question and instead said, “ **Toirahc deleehw-owt ym htrof emoc.** ”

He then lifted his fingers and produced a loud snap. Instantaneously a large puff of smoke appeared right before the two. While JD waved the smoke away he noticed Veronica choking on it slightly and felt a bit guilty going overboard with the theatrics.

“What was that for?” she asked immediately, glaring at him.

“So I could summon this,” he said, motioning with his hand towards an object that was partially concealed by the dissipating smoke.

JD observed while Veronica’s eyes grew comically wide and he couldn’t help but grin at her reaction.

“Is that a motorcycle,” she gasped, shakily pointing at the silver and black two-wheeler.

“It’s a _BSA X-75 Hurricane_ ,” the demon proudly exclaimed while his hand grazed against the black painted fuel tank. “Only over a thousand of these motorcycles were ever made in spite or despite the company going bankrupt and because the ‘cycle couldn’t meet the new American noise standards. This one, however, is modified so that it won’t make a racket.”

“It looks newer than a bike from 1919,” Veronica noted with a hint of snark.

“It’s a 1972 model,” JD said while he continued to gaze happily at the motorcycle.

“How can you know what a 70s motorcycle is but you don’t know about Stephen King?”

JD shrugged his shoulders. “I may not know every little detail about what Earth’s like right now, but I do know a few things like this beauty right here.” He never once turned his head to look at her while he spoke. The demon just couldn’t get enough of his little Hurricane.

“Okay,” Veronica said. She then took a few steps forward until she stood in front of JD, blocking his view of the motorcycle, much to his annoyance. “So, why did you summon this thing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He gave her a smile. “You need a ride home and I can give it to you on this lovely special right here.”

Veronica reacted as though he was asking her to stab her finger again. “Are you serious? There’s no way I’m ridding on that bike.”

He stared at her for a moment before giving her a nod. “You’re right…. We need helmets.” The demon slapped himself before conjuring up two back motorcycle helmets with matching tinted visors. “Safety first.”

Veronica didn’t take the helmet that he offered and instead crossed her arms and frowned. “Can’t you just make a car appear instead of this?”

“No, I can’t because I didn’t create the motorbike out of thin air. It already exists and was inside a warehouse before I transferred it here with magic,” he explained as simply as he could, hoping she understood what he was saying.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t steal it did you?”

“No,” he said, offended. “It belongs to another demon that I know. He’ll be perfectly fine with me ‘borrowing’ this for the time being. It’s not like he can use it where he’s at right now.”

“Because he’s ‘down Below’?” she guessed, pointing to the ground.

JD pointed his own finger at her and nodded. “You catch on pretty quick.”

“I still don’t know,” she said hesitantly. “My dad wouldn’t want me to ride on one of these.”

“Would you rather I take you flying up on wings instead?” he asked, giving her a look.

Veronica shook her head rapidly. “I’d prefer to stay on the ground.”

“Not a fan of heights?”

“No, I just trust you as far as **you** can throw me.” She gave him a pointed look.

The demon shrugged, feigning apathy at her abrasive but honest comment. “So..?”

Veronica sighed before looking around again. The demon guessed she was probably trying to see if there was anyone else nearby who could give her a lift and wasn’t 400-years-old. “Fine, but you better be careful while you’re driving,” she said gloomily at first before adding a little bit of that bite of hers in the end.

“I haven’t lost a single passenger,” he swore. _Though, I never did have one until her._ But he decided to keep that thought to himself. Afterwards two of them securely placed their helmets on.

“You know you’re going to need to wrap your arms around me, right?” he told her while smirking underneath his helmet.

Veronica hadn’t slid her visor down yet so he could visibly see her eyes glowering at him. “You better not getting ideas from this,” she said.

“Wouldn’t think of it,” he said lightly, though he knew she knew he wasn’t being completely honest. JD did his best to ignore the strange feeling in his chest when her arms did enfold across his waist. Then he turned on the ignition, kicked the kickstand up and off they went.

For the first few minutes the two rode in an uncomfortable silence. The only sound either of them heard was the wind rushing around them. JD knew that he was driving at a slow enough pace so that his voice could be heard over the wind. So, because the demon clearly didn’t think anything could possibly go wrong, he decided to strike up a conversation with his Contractor.

“So, was that your first kiss?” JD blurted out before he could stop himself. Opposition dammit, why did he always come off as creepy?

“No. I told you my last kiss was during 8th Grade,” she reminded him.

“Oh, right,” he smiled sheepishly under his helmet, glad that the human couldn’t see his embarrassment. “Well, I’m honored that I was your first smooch in four years,” he teased.

“Not by choice,” she retorted.

JD pretended the little punch below the belt didn’t hurt and decided to joke some more. “Well, it probably doesn’t count since it was strictly for getting energy and nothing else”— _Yeah, keep telling yourself that,_ a small voice in his head muttered before he squashed it—“But I am curious about what flavor lip-balm you use. Cherry? Strawberry?”

“Do you want me to order you to punch yourself in the face?” she asked in an irritated tone.

JD gaped. “You do know if I do that we’ll fall right off the road and you’ll die and we both end up down Below.”

“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

The demon scowled before he returned his attention to the road.

How could one measly little human be so annoying? Well, the demon knew how to get back at her and he was looking forward to seeing the look on her face after witnessing what he already did.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

“Can you pull over here?” she asked after they were a few miles away from Westerberg.

“Here?” he asked. “But your house is still another-”

“I know, but there’s a stop I want to make here.” she cut him off. “I just really need this, okay?”

After a small beat of silence JD shrugged and muttered a ‘fine’ before turning on his right blinker and exited off the street into one of the only two strip malls Sherwood had. Once JD drove them in the parking lot Veronica directed him to park right in front of a gas station.

“Why are we here? I don’t need to refuel the tank.” JD asked right as Veronica purposely slipped off the bike.

“I’m going in there,” she thumbed at the convenience store right next to the gas pumps.

“Seven-Eleven?” JD read the store’s sign aloud. “Why is the seven spelled as a number?”

“It’s a stylistic choice, I guess?” Veronica shrugged. “I think it’s because the store used to open from 7AM to 11PM everyday. Now 7-Elevens are open twenty-four hours a day.”

“Then why don’t they just change it to 24-Seven?” he questioned.

Again she shrugged, . “Dunno.”

“Wait, so stores now run all day? How do the employees not go insane working those long shifts?”

“Obviously stores like these rotate the employees so they aren’t working all the time… why are you following me?”

“Because I want to check it out.” he replied while starting to get off the bike.

“You are going to stay on the curb and wait until I get back so we can leave,” she ordered him. When he said nothing Veronica added the warning of ‘making’ him stay there unless he behaved. Surprisingly enough the demon complied, but not without giving her a glare.

“If you stay there, I might even get you something,” she said to him.

“I’m a demon, I don’t need to eat human food. And I seriously doubt there would be anything worth my while in that excuse of a snack shack,” he waved dismissively at the convenience store.

Veronica smirked, a little goaded by his accidental challenge. “We’ll see about that.” She then entered the store after the automatic doors swept open for her.

* * *

“What is that?” JD asked once Veronica exited the food mart. In her hands were two large Styrofoam cups. One of the cups was green and red, the other two sizes smaller with a blue and hot pink swirl design. She noticed he was specifically pointing at the tinier cup of the two.

“It’s called a _Slurpee_. I was originally going to get you a _Big Gulp_ like I did for me, but then I though ‘hey, since he’s been stuck in Hell for so long JD’s probably forgotten what snow looks like’ which is why I got you the Slurpee instead. I got you a blue-raspberry one since that’s my favorite flavor.” she explained while giving him a confused look that matched his. Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh, I’m guessing you wouldn’t know what a Slurpee is because they might’ve not been invented during your last time on Earth?”

“Is it like a snow-cone?” the demon asked while he got up. “I went to this fair down in Texas where this guy named Sam Bert was selling them. They didn’t really cool me down because of where I’m from, but they were kinda tasty. The red one was my favorite. It stained my tongue and it looked like blood for days.”

Veronica was initially intrigued by JD’s story but soon recoiled after he mentioned the part about the blood.

“Do you want to try it or not?” she asked, steering the conversation to a far less unpleasant topic.

JD took the Slurpee out of Veronica’s offered hand and scrutinized it deeply. He grasped the straw to put inside his mouth and quickly sucked in a large slurp.

“Uh, you might want to slow down or else you might get a-”

“GAH!” The demon cried out, one of his hands went to his left temple and rubbed at it while the other held onto the drink.

“Brain freeze,” Veronica finished in a knowing tone.

“That was definitely not like a snow-cone,” JD muttered.

Veronica frowned, feeling a bit guilty. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t-”

“IT’S EVEN BETTER!” the demon shouted a moment later.

The black-haired girl shook her head in shock. “You like it?”

JD gaped at her as though she was the one with antlers growing on the top of her head. “Are you kidding me? This drink—Slurpee you said it’s called—has got to be one of the most delicious concoctions I’ve ever had. And it even sends a painful cold blast through my senses. Who needs drugs when I can have one of these?” he asked in a rhetorical way as he stared reverently at the drink in his hand.

Veronica took a large intake of her _Coke_. She wasn’t sure how to react to his response.

“I need another one of these,” he told her after inhaling the rest of the Slurpee.

“You finished it already?” she asked in shock. It normally took her way more sips to drink her Slurpees, even in the small cups.

“What can I say, I really like this drink. And I must say I’m already becoming a fan of this blue-raspberry flavor you picked,” JD said. “Oh, how does my tongue look?” He stuck it right in front of her, much to her annoyance.

“It’s blue,” she said truthfully but kept her gaze averted.

“Great.”

“Are you really a demon that’s at least over 70 years old?”

“I’m actually 400 and seventeen years old, but I think it’s sweet you thought I looked younger.”

Veronica shook her head, wondering if she heard him correctly. “Wait, did you just say you’re over four-hundred years old?”

“And seven months,” he added. “Hey, are you okay? You look like you’re about to become sick.”

Veronica did feel like she was about to upchuck, like her stomach was holding a very heavy rock inside and it was threatening to come out. “I can’t believe I made out with a person older than the U.S. constitution.”

“Hey, wait, demons don’t age the same way humans do,” JD said after he put his Slurpee down and put a hand on her shoulder. Even when she pushed it off he still stood near her. “Natural born demons, like me, age at a way slower pace than humans. I really am a teenager by demon standards. A couple centuries is nothing compared to how old adult demons are.”

“And how old would you consider an adult demon to be?”

“Most grown up demons I know live up to thousands of years. The oldest one, though, He’s a couple centuries older than the earth itself.”

That made Veronica feel slightly less nauseated than a minute earlier, but she still felt weird about the whole thing. “Okay, if that really is the truth.”

“You wrote in the contract for me not to lie to you anymore,” he reminded her while giving her a blank look.

Veronica bit her inner cheek. “Right. Well, I think after I drink this I’m gonna go get myself a Slurpee, too.”

“What for?”

“So I could get a strong enough brain freeze that it’ll hopefully make me forget your real age and how this whole relationship doesn’t feel like the plot of _Lolita_.”

“Oh, can you get me another one while you go back? This time make it a cherry!” he shouted to her while waving his emptied cup.

Veronica groaned as she made her way inside the 7-Eleven again. She really should’ve just stayed in bed on Thursday.

* * *

✬JD✬

JD was so into driving the Hurricane that he almost didn’t hear Veronica speaking to him.

“I think we’re at the wrong street,” she yelled over the wind.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked her in amusement.

“Yeah, because over on the left is the Dead—the Dean House,” the human girl explained. “But wait a second, it’s supposed to be the right hand side of the street three blocks down from my home.”

JD smirked, intrigued at how quick on the uptake Veronica was being.

“And my house is…” she trailed off. JD correctly guessed that was the moment when she saw the very unexpected change to her neighborhood.

On the opposite side of the Sawyer homestead, three houses to the left hand side stood the three-story restored Victorian residence. The structure no longer looked like it was on the verge of collapsing if somebody coughed on it. Even the wood shined as though a new coat of paint had been applied to it recently. Lights were on with smoke floating out of the chimney. It was all so very wrong.

“How did—wait,” Veronica started to say after she slid off the motorcycle once JD parked it by the house. She whipped her head and glared angrily at him. “You did this.”

The unfazed demon smiled while raising a hand. “Guilty.”

“But why?” she demanded in a shocked voice.

“I told you before that I need to be near my Contractor and since you told me I can’t just live in your house with you I decided that I needed my own little place.”

“Teleport it back to where it was originally,” she demanded. “The Dean House has been at its original spot for like a century. People are going to notice it missing.”

“No can do.” JD said with a shake of his head.

“Oh, right I need to say I, Veronica-”

“That’s not going to work either,” the demon said.

Veronica gaped at him. “What the Hell do you mean it won’t work? It’s in the damn contract that you always have to follow my commands if I say the phrase.”

“You should’ve been more careful when you left me read over the contract earlier,” JD warned. “Because the truth is I didn’t just add my real name to it after you lent me your pen.”

“What. Did. You. Do?” she said slowly before asking to look at the contract. JD replied that she would need to look at her own skin for that. Veronica pointed out how she couldn’t be physically capable of doing that and told him she needed to look at his…copy of the contract. The demon only smirked while the flustered human looked on his chest to read and noticed that there were indeed added words to the second and fourth rules.

  1. The Demonic Hireling can only do what the Contractor orders when _Veronica Sawyer_ specially says: “I, Veronica, command you, JD, to…” **Within reason.**



  1. Acts of violence are strictly prohibited unless either/both the Demonic Hireling or Contractor are in a real life and death situation. The Demonic Hireling must ask the Contractor permission first before performing acts of Dark Magic. **Within reason.**



JD noticed Veronica lifting her head to look at him with the most venomous glare yet.

“You sneaky, son of a-”

“Careful,” he flicked her nose, angering her further. “Or you might say something you’ll come to regret later.”

“How could you do this?” she demanded.

“Well, you gave me your pen and-”

“No, I mean I know how—but what I’m asking is why?”

“Why?” JD crossed his arms. “Maybe because I didn’t like the idea of being some dutiful little servant to a human? I’m not going to act like some glorified butler that must answer your beck and call. I’m my own person too, you know? And besides it would be boring for both of us if I had to follow everything you were saying.”

“You obeyed all of my commands earlier,” she reminded him.

The demon’s smile widened. “I had to make it convincing so you wouldn’t be suspicious.”

“So, that’s it. You’re not going to listen to anything I order you to do now?” Veronica sighed sadly.

“I will still follow your orders… if it’s something that I’ll agree to do. I did say how much I like consent in a relationship. Just think of it as that.”

The ebony-haired teenager scowled. “I seriously doubt that’s the same thing.” She looked over at the Victorian. “Isn’t there anyway you can sent it back where it was originally?”

“I could, but like I said earlier I need my own place to stay and be near you at the same time. This house just so happens to be the only vacant one in your entire neighborhood,” he said.

“Do other demons have the kind of power to move heavy things like houses?”

“Yes,” JD responded a little too quickly for his own liking and hoped that she would buy it.

Veronica didn’t seem to notice the demon’s fast response and turned to stare at him again. “I will find a way to get back at you for this.”

“I look forward to seeing you try,” JD said truthfully. “But until then, greetings and salutations, neighbor.”

**End of Chapter 8**

* * *

**Q-A:** If anyone here thinks JD is acting a little OOC in this I did that intentionally since he is a demon and they don’t have the same mannerisms or sense of morality as humans do. But he will go through some character development as the story goes on and we will be seeing his more serious side along with it. He isn’t really taking anything seriously right now because there is no real threats in the story… yet.

References:  
  
I don’t know if the rich history of snow-cones is true or not, but I do think it’d be neat if they did originate in Texas since that’s where I’m from. I live near Austin in case anybody cares. I learned the little fact on snow-cones from here: <https://www.gmpopcorn.com/resources/blog/a-history-of-sno-cones>

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	10. "Eye eht steem naht em ot erom tol a s’ereht”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which both Veronica and JD meet someone new (to them).

❦Veronica❦

_I am definitely going to find a way to get back at him for this._ Veronica swore to herself. There was no way she was going to let a menace like JD run amok in her town, doing the literal devil knows what.

“I sure hope you’re going to have fun explaining to everyone on my block why this house is here and not on Murphy and O’Keefe Street,” the black haired girl said with a confident grin.

Much to her surprise JD didn’t look the least bit perturbed by the news. Instead he smiled. “What are you talking about? This house has always been on this street.”

“If this is some form of gaslighting I’m not going to fall for it.” she said with a frown.

“I have no idea what gas powered lamps have anything to do with this but I think I see one of your neighbors over there,” the demon said, pointing to an older looking man with a portly waistline. “Why don’t you go ask him what he thinks?”

“Yeah, well, maybe I will,” she said stubbornly before she marched up to the other human on the street. The person in question happened to be Mr. Porter (very fitting name) who lived two houses down to the right from hers. Veronica didn’t interact with him often, but she recalled Halloweens from when she was younger where he always made sure to give her the candy she liked best and was always taking in stray cats when the weather got too cold.

“Hi Mr. Porter,” Veronica greeted the man with a wave.

Mr. Porter had been walking down the street with a large cardboard box but stopped his tracks once the girl called out to him. “Oh, hello Veronica,” he replied back with a pleasant smile. “You wouldn’t believe what I found right by the bus stop while I was waiting for my ride.” He titled the box so Veronica could see what was inside. She nearly squealed.

Inside the box were five of the most precious looking kittens Veronica had ever seen with their mama cat giving them her milk.

“Awww,” Veronica couldn’t help but coo over. “They’re so cute!”

Mr. Porter nodded, which led to his glasses becoming askew at first before he readjusted them again. “Aren’t they? I learned from the weather report that we’re supposed to be getting a cold front tonight and I couldn’t just let these little cuties here stay out through that. All I had to do was bribe Mom here with some tuna I bought at the store earlier and she was more than willing to let me put her in the box with her kittens.”

“Aw, that’s really nice of you,” Veronica said, still gushing over the adorable little fluff balls and their straight-faced looking mama. So precious.

“She doesn’t seem all that feral so I hoping I can find her and her kittens good homes once they’re old enough,” Mr. Porter revealed.

Veronica gasped. “That’s so sweet. I totally wish I could take one of these little guys home with me, but my parents said two is plenty.” She frowned sadly.

“Well, it’s the thought that counts.”

“I could bring some treats over for them once they’re old enough to eat them,” she offered.

“Psst, hey!” Veronica felt someone poke at her. It was JD giving her a disfavoring stare. “Ask him about the house already. You can play with your pussies later.”

_He doesn’t know what that slang is yet. He doesn’t doesn’t know what that slang is yet._ Veronica repeated to herself like a Buddhist mantra. She inhaled to hold back a long-suffering sigh and asked Mr. Porter if the Dean House looked new to him.

The bespectacled man glanced over to where Veronica was pointing at and suddenly he stiffened and his eyes glazed over. “Oh, but Veronica, that house as **always** been there.”

Veronica felt her heart skip a beat. “Always?”

“Of course.” he droned. “Don’t you remember?”

“Uh, I guess I forgot for a moment there,” she said, looking down to the ground.

“Have a nice day,” Mr. Porter said distantly before he resumed his walk.

“What did you do to Mr. Porter?” Veronica demanded JD.

The demon frowned. “Nothing. He’ll be fine once his mind focuses on a new subject. Everybody will act the same way he does after they stare at the house and will blindly accept it being there.”

“That’s horrible,” she said. “You can’t just force people to think like that.”

“Well, how else are they going to be convinced that the house is meant to be here then?”

“It’s not supposed to be,” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “That’s the whole damn point.”

“Whatever, I don’t need to listen to your nonsense,” the demon said dismissively. He starts to walk away leaving Veronica even more exasperated with him.

“Oh, you do not just walk away from me,” she stomped right up until she was walking beside him again. “I’m serious. You can’t just keep doing this stuff to me.”

“Or else what?” he demanded.

“Or else I’ll make sure some friends of mine help me get even with you.”

“I thought the only friends you had are the Heathers?”

Veronica frowned at him, crossing her arms. “There’s a lot more to me than meets the eye.”

The demon waved a dismissive hand at her. “I’m sure there is.” Veronica wanted to lash out how there was something unique about her, but stopped herself. Yes, she did have a special power that made her different from everyone else but that difference would become her downfall if anyone heard about it and thought she was crazy. She could already imagine what the Heathers would do if they ever found out, but JD? The black-haired girl internally shuddered. He already had too much power as it was.

_He would probably find a way to make me use it to find spirits for him to harvest or something._ The images of Thomas and Agatha withering into smoke came into her mind before she pushed the thought away. Veronica wasn’t going to be losing any more friends.

Never again.

“Wait, you said earlier that you had two cats, right?” JD asked, seemingly out of the blue.

Veronica was temporarily distracted by the question before answering it. “Yeah? Don’t tell me demons like to eat cats like _Alf._ I swear if you do anything to JFK or Jackie I will convert to Christianity again and buy every damn cross in town and bury you in them.”

The demon wasn’t daunted by the threat and merely rolled his eyes. “Suuuurrre. Anyway the reason I asked is because I thought I would’ve left a little friend to watch over you.”

“A friend?” Veronica said warily. “Since when did you have friends up here?”

“You wound me,” he pretended to look sadden while placing a hand over where his heart would be if he actually had one. “You haven’t seen him before because he’s been hiding in my pocket,” JD explained, his left hand lowering into one of the half dozen pouches stitched to his coat.

Veronica could only raise a brow in confusion. “What?”

As though he were a cheap birthday party magician pulling a resigned rabbit out of his hat the demon brandished a tiny white ball of fluff from hands. Veronica leaned forward ever so slightly to look at the ball and realized that it was moving. She stopped herself from jumping in shock after seeing two red eyes bearing up at her own. The ball stretched completely forward, revealing four paws, a stubby tail, two ears and what appeared to be a pair of triangular horns on the top of its head.

“Is… Is that supposed to be a hamster?” Veronica asked, incredulous. _Out of all the things she imagined seeing him pull out of his pocket_. She shook her head, feeling a bit underwhelmed.

JD smiled proudly. “His name is Snowball.”

Veronica laughed, making sure to hold back the dorky snort she accidently let out sometimes. “You are a literal demon from Hell and named your pet hamster Snowball? Do I even want to know?”

“Well, you know how the old saying goes, don’t ya? A snowball’s chance… Get it?” The grin on his face widened after Veronica groaned.

“Really?” She gave him the driest look a seventeen-year-old could muster.

“Don’t let his deceptively adorable facade fool you, underneath the powder white fur Snowball is a force to be reckoned with.” JD held up Snowball until he was a foot away from her face, trying to show how monstrous he really was.

The tiny rodent blinked his ruby eyes at Veronica before rubbing his paws over his face to clean it.

Veronica snorted. “Oh yeah, I’m really shaking in my shoes just by looking at his terrifying appearance. Totally hideous. But I still prefer cats.”

“They spit out hairballs,” he countered.

“Better than having one for a pet,” she said while gesturing at the hamster.

JD gasped dramatically before he narrowed his eyes at her. “You take that back.”

“Never,” Veronica said with the same bravado, looking up at him with a determined look.

“Snowball didn’t deserve your harsh words,” the demon said.

“Just like he shouldn’t have somebody like you for his owner? I totally agree with you,” she replied tidily, much to his obvious frustration.

“I could order Snowball here to sneak into your house in the middle of the night to sic on your cats,” the demon warned.

“Like I said before if you do anything to my cats I will convert to Christianity and find every cross I can find and use them on you. And as a extra measure, I’ll buy holy water and dump it on you,” she said threateningly. “I bet that’ll hurt like a bitch.”

The two of them stared at each other for what felt like hours before Veronica saw her parents’ car pull into the driveway. She didn’t want either her mom or dad to see her staring at nothingness from their perspective so she had to leave JD and head inside. Not before bringing up the Christian conversion threat again to keep him away from her house.

Despite how much she truly didn’t care about religion the girl was starting to get tempted to become a neophyte.

Hopefully things wouldn’t get desperate enough for her to cross that bridge.

* * *

✬JD✬

JD scowled as he watched the light go out in Veronica’s bedroom from across the street. Lights next to her room went out fifteen minutes later, which he assumed belonged to her parents. He turned away from the window and walked further in the sparse room on the third floor. Except for the very thick layer of dust there was nothing else inside save for himself and Snowball. Yes, he did fix the lack of electricity problem and restored all the glass and wood to its original glory, but couldn’t do anything to replace the furniture that no longer existed inside the house.

_Well, I guess it’s time for bed… oh, right, demons can’t sleep. Just how long until sunrise?_ JD glanced at the clock he magicked to work again.

The clock read 10:31 PM. He had at least eight and a half hours until daylight returned.

_Fuuuuuuuck!_ The demon rubbed his hair furiously. What was he supposed to do until then? Die of boredom? Summon his saxophone from the Netherworld and play a few songs? Or ‘kill’ himself for entertainment value. _Maybe if I still had that gun_ —JD shook his head to remove that morbid thought away.

The demon decided to turn his attention towards something less gloomy and suddenly came up with the idea to explore the house in order to pass the time. What took maybe an hour for a human to walk around was even less than a quarter for JD. Not because he used his powers to move quickly, but due to the fact there was nothing remotely interesting in the first two floors. It reminded JD of every other standard Victorian he had seen being built up and later abandoned during his last tenure on Earth. The excessive amount of cobwebs was new, though. JD let his pet have his fill by going after all the insects and arachnids inside the building. The only place left to investigate was the attic, which he saved for last on purpose. Surely there had to be something interesting up there.

When he climbed up the ladder and entered the room he was flooded with déjà vu from the last time he was in there. He hadn’t paid much attention to his surroundings with how things had gone down but since he wasn’t in a hurry to find his Contractor the demon took his time to examine all the boxes and crates that had been abandoned. JD opened three crates after using his claws to slash the lids open. The first one had layers of cloth that appeared to be curtains. JD decided that they would be useful in concealing his appearance and decided to get them cleaned up at the local cleaners. The next crate was full of old papers that meant nothing to him until he came across an old photograph. He only looked at the image of the lady inside for about five seconds before carelessly discarding the frame with no hint of regret. The third crate he opened had been unintentional at first since he was originally interested in the ancient looking fainting couch. When he started to pull that out it was then he discovered the third box hiding underneath it. JD only bothered to look at it because on the side the word _BOOKS_ was written in big black letters. He eagerly ripped the lid open and found up to thirty hard-covers inside. After he used the same restoration spell to fix the broken glass and rotting wood all of the books were back in their original condition. He settled for the one he was the most familiar with, Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein._ After he teleported the couch to the third floor right next to a reading lamp he also found up above, of course.

_‘Wonder if Veronica ever read this?_ the demon thought as he started to begin reading the first page after settling down on his new—old couch.

“Why should I be the one to do it?” a nasally feminine voice said, coming out of nowhere.

JD shot himself up, knocking poor Snowball off his shoulder. The demon stood up and rushed over to console his frightened little friend before he heard a new voice speak.

“-think he might’ve heard you.”

“Show yourselves!” JD hollered, having enough of the trickery. “Or else I’ll make you appear,” he warned while he conjured up a small ball of Hellfire in his clenched fist.

“Okay, okay, no need to get all overdramatic on us, honey.” the first voice chimed dryly.

JD narrowed his eyes as he waited for the strange presence to make their appearance and almost dropped his jaw at seeing the two ghosts appear in his room.

One was an elderly woman wearing clothes that looked somewhat out of place in the decade JD found himself in, but they were nowhere near as outdated as the clothing the spirit next to her was wearing.

“Okay, why are a spinster and an American solider doing inside my house?” he asked, looking back and forth at them.

“We’re not happy bein’ here either, buster, but it was either commit spiritual suicide by going inside Veronica’s house or taking the plunge and coming in here for professional help.”

“What? Who are you people? Ghosts?”

The young man that physically resembled JD’s outward age cleared his throat, “Allow me to explain. My name is Thomas Connor Philips, third class private from the-”

“Yeah, yeah, skip to the part of why I shouldn’t be scaring you off my property and should suddenly start caring about you.” JD said impatiently.

“My name is Agatha Sanders,” the past middle-aged ghost said gesturing to herself. “What Yankee-Doodle here is trying to say is that we are sensing something seriously wrong in this street.”

“We originally thought it was because of you, but this feeling is different,” the spirit of Thomas said. “We believe something malevolent is inside the Sawyer residence.”

“And why do you know or care about that?” Some part of JD wanted to cut this conversation short so he could go over to see if Veronica was okay while the other half had a strong enough voice to keep him in place.

“Because we know Miss Sawyer,” Thomas automatically said before his eyes widened and covered his mouth.

Agatha gave him a sour look. “Nice goin’ there, General Custer. Anymore blunders you want to make next?”

“You know Veronica as in **know** her,” JD said allowed as the pieces fell into place. “Veronica is a Medium. And a virgin.” A sense of dread blew over him. That kind of combination usually spelled trouble. For the human. “I need to go to her house now.”

“Please don’t do anything to her,” the male ghost begged. “She’s the only person that still talks to us.”

“She is the only person that talks to us. Everybody else is dead,” the sarcastic Agatha reminded the departed soldier.

“Same difference,” Thomas replied in annoyance.

“Can you both shut up for five seconds?” JD snapped at the bickering ghosts.

“Opposition, you two are annoying.” He then headed for the stairs and wasn’t all that surprised to see the spirits following him. “Why did you two come here to ask me for help? You must know my kind like to eat souls like yours.”

“Because Miss Sawyer is our friend,” Thomas said succinctly.

“And we’ve watched her grow up since she was born here in Sherwood,” Agatha added, holding up a ghostly cigarette to her lips. “She doesn’t know it, but a lot of us in the specter community have grown to care about her and want her to be safe.” She floated until she was standing in front of the demon and gave him a withering glare. “And then you came into town and messed everything up.”

“This is much worse than back when she first discovered her powers,” Thomas muttered before Agatha shushed him.

The demon raised an eyebrow in fascination over what transpired, but said nothing else. “I don’t see any of you coming to try and stop me,” JD replied, undisturbed.

“That is because all of us are afraid you’ll eat us.”

“Thanks to your friend, ‘Miss Sawyer’, you don’t have to worry about me chomping on your souls anytime soon. Even if she thinks otherwise, I can only get energy from her now,” he said, replying to the ghost’s blunt answer.

As he reached the front to his house he ordered both ghosts to leave him be before he headed to the Sawyer home. He remembered when Veronica ordered him to not come inside her house, but she never ‘officially’ ordered him to do so yet and thanks to his edits he only had to listen to her every other demand, anyway. Still he didn’t want to just barge in if there really is another demon or something else inside and scare them off. JD decided to ask his little friend Snowball to go scope out the place and come straight back after he scouted the structure and **not** eat the cats. The memory of Veronica’s threat to converting to Christianity was fresh on his mind.

“So, what did you find, old friend?” he inquired a little while later

Through a series of tiny squeaks, which JD hummed and nodded in response, the demon learned that there was indeed something sinister inside Veronica’s home and it just so happened to be inside her room. Without a minute of delay JD floated up to the second story window and magically snapped the window lock open. He then placed a muting spell to make himself silent so none of the mortals could hear him as he entered the interior.

His eyes immediately went over to Veronica’s bed and found her trying to toss and turn in her bed while muttering something incoherently under her breath. The reason she couldn’t move all that well had to do with the fact that a small green hairless dwarf-sized goblin was sitting on her chest. He had a hand raised over her head while it was absorbing the unseen energy from within. JD could sense that it was Veronica’s nightmares that the monster was feasting on.

When his entrance gained no response from the demon JD let out an obnoxious cough. After it turned its grotesque head towards JD he didn’t bother with any banter and demanded, “What are you doing here?”

“Selling _Girl Scout_ cookies, what else does it look like, bub?” the demon replied with an eye roll. Not once while he talk did he pull his hand back from Veronica’s head. He also noted that while Veronica was still stirring in her sleep she didn’t seem to act like she heard what the little monster was saying. Perhaps he put on a silencing charm as well?

_It’s the middle of the night; this goblin-like creature is sitting on Veronica and sucking energy from her._ JD listed before his mind came to the conclusion of what type of demon he was dealing with here.

“You’re in incubus.”

“Ding. Ding, Ding. We have a winner,” the small demon said in mock celebration. “Nice to know there’s a brain that goes with your pretty face.”

_A stupid one at that,_ the taller demon thought, unimpressed.

“I’m just going to cut to the chase and tell you to get your ugly ass off her now,” JD said bluntly, taking a step towards the bed. “Go find your own human.”

“Oh, I had no idea that this here was your human,” the incubus said in the smarmiest way possible. “Listen here, kid, no amount of bluster is going to make me listen to a…” The demon sniffed the air before he smirked, “to a Cambion like you.”

JD’s temper was starting to reach a boiling point that was getting harder to hold back in. Perhaps under different circumstances JD would’ve pulled that freak off, bit his neck until he bled and cut him open like a fish. However he didn’t want to risk Veronica waking up and seeing that graphic image. Instead JD went with the simple solution of muttering a levitation spell on the green demon and holding him in place. JD found some satisfaction of seeing the disgruntled expression on the demon’s face, but he paid more attention to Veronica.

As soon as the incubus was lifted of Veronica’s chest her breathing was less labored and the strained frown on her face disappeared altogether. JD allowed one moment to gaze at her with some emotion he hadn’t allowed himself to feel in a long time before he returned his attention to the minor demon.

“I don’t care who you are or who you might be working for, but this will be the one and only time I see you in this town, got it?”

The green imp scoffed. “Like that’s supposed to frightened me? You’re a half-breed, freak. This spell you’re using will wear off in a matter of minutes and I’ll just come back here because this virgin has some of the best juice I’ve tasted in centuries. I’m not gonna be scared by some weakling like you.”

“Oh? Well, maybe I can’t scare you on my own, but this might.” JD said as his half-human appearance shifted more to the demonic. Soon the rest of his true form reappeared as he muttered a ancient incantation.

**“Nwapslleh emac uoy ecnehw morf tip eht ot nruter og.”**

“Wait,” the incubus’ careless mien started to break down, fear became evident on his face and voice. “You’re not a low-level half-breed. You’re the son of-”

The imp had no time to finish his revelation after JD incinerated his corporeal form.

“Fuck off.” JD said, rubbing his hands to get rid of the remaining dust from the incubus’ decomposing corpse. Then he quickly performed a cleaning spell to remove what was left along with the growing smell.

“Just want kind of Medium are you, Veronica?” JD asked as he kneeled by her bed. He moved a few strands of hair from her face and watched as she slowly fell into a much more relaxed sleep.

“Wish I could stay a bit longer, darling, but I have some research I need to do,” he said to her while knowing that the mute spell was still effective. JD stood up, adjusted his coat and headed towards the window. He did a quick repair spell on the lock so Veronica wouldn’t notice the difference and flew until he was on the ground again. He then walked down three blocks until he was at the original location of the Dean House. The lot was vacant, save for the tall grass that grew. JD walked until he was at the very dead center of the field. He enlarged his claws until they were the size of gardening trowels and started to dig. The demon removed more earth until the tips of his nails hit against something hard. After retracting his claws JD reached down until his hands found a strap made from thick rope and pulled at it. He ceased his actions once his demon strength managed to take the large stone box from its hiding spot. JD pushed the stone lid open until he could put his hand in and grab what he was looking for. Out from the stone container was a large bag made out of carpet. The designs were a floral pattern and had leather straps at the top with a bronze lock. He lifted the bag without any difficulty once he put all the box back into the hole, pushed the dirt back into place and for an extra measure put an illusion over it until the grass re-grew.

_Opposition, this is going to take forever to get off my nails,_ the demon complained as he walked away, inspecting his claws on one hand while the other carried the carpetbag. He really hated the fact that he couldn’t just magically summon the box and had to dig like some grave robber. But **she** did get the best Witches to put an enchantment on it so that couldn’t be feasible for any demon. Not even a half-breed.

_Looks like I’m going to have to put Mary Shelley on hold for now_ , JD thought as he made his way back into his house.

The demon had a different form of late night/early morning reading to do.

**End of Chapter 9**

* * *

**Q-A:** So, JD now knows Veronica can see ghosts and the official term is a Medium. I bet you are all wondering how that makes her different from other humans? And what did that Incubus mean about ‘best juice’? And why was there a stone chest with a flower-themed carpetbag underneath the spot where the Dead Dean House was? Will I answer any of these questions? Maybe, maybe not. XD Kidding, all of this and more will be answered in later chapters. Rest assured.

[Just to give out a warning that there is a chance I may or may not be able to update on 12/5/20. I have a big week coming up where I need to work on getting ready for a craft fair I’m doing, along with a website I need to set up, update a chapter to this other story that I’ve been working on for almost two years now by the Sunday of that weekend AND this one-shot I’m planning to have up on Dec. 15th for a writing prompt that I also did last year for the Transformers Fandom. Normally I’d be able to do my two stories (+ the oneshot) no problem, but I don’t want to get too stressed out with all the other work I need to do. I PROMISE that I’m not abandoning this story. I swear.]

References:  
  
So according to Wikipedia, the term for Gaslighting didn’t really exist until the late 1930s inspired from the play _Gas Light_. I’m pretty sure that type of psychology existed way before the play did, but that is the name to describe the term. So, since the play came out AFTER 1919, JD wouldn’t know what Veronica’s talking about. Again. 

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	11. “Emag s’taht sseug I”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica has a ‘nice’ chat with her girlfriends while JD looks through another book.

❦Veronica❦

Veronica’s awakening was not caused by an obnoxious alarm or a transcendental nightmare, but instead by what normal teenagers should wake up to hearing on a Saturday morning: her mother calling from downstairs, telling her breakfast was ready.

The black haired girl blinked repeatedly in an effort to get rid of the remaining sleep on her eyes before stretching out her joints. Veronica made a quick visual sweep around the room to make sure there weren’t any demon boys lurking around, or looking at her stuff. Once she was certain at being alone the girl resumed her previous action. She sighed as her muscles made pleasurable pops before sliding off her bed and went over to her dresser for socks. Veronica decided she’d clean herself up, after eating this morning. After putting on a pair of black socks she headed downstairs.

“Mornin’” she greeted both her parents as she made it to the dinning room where a decent spread of breakfast was made consisting of French toast, bacon and fruit. As she grabbed Mrs. Buttersworth by the handle her mom asked if she slept well.

“Yeah… as a matter of fact, I did.” Veronica said, finding herself smiling. It was the first time in months she actually didn’t wake up to a half-forgotten nightmare in the early morning. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted off her chest during the night and went away entirely.

“That’s good to hear,” Mrs. Sawyer said right before she munched on some toast.

“Why do I keep bothering to read these articles every morning if they just tick me off?” her dad complained while motioning to one newspaper article that was about the politics he was against.

“Because, you’re an idiot?” Veronica playfully suggested, knowing where her response would lead.

“Oh, right I am.” he teased right back. The two of them had a nice laugh while the older woman just rolled her eyes at them.

“Do you have any plans for today?” her dad asked after they finished chuckling.

“I think Ronnie said her **friends** are coming over to play croquet,” Mrs. Sawyer reminded her husband, putting a hard emphasis on a certain word that Veronica was confused by. Or until she remembered what her mom just said.

Right, every Saturday (that wasn’t straight after a big party) the girls would rotate on which house they would go to for their croquet matches. They used to have them after school until Heather’s parents were no longer accepting her daughter’s excuses of not coming to visit her grandmother every Saturday morning. So Heather Chandler decreed that the girls needed to spend each Saturday morning between 9AM to Noon, hanging out at whatever house was chosen during the month. On the second Saturday of every month the girls would come over to Veronica’s house for their weekly game and Veronica was both nervous and looking forward to it.

She had a bone to pick with a certain redhead, but the dark-haired girl had a feeling that the feeling was going to be mutual in an hour and a half.

“I’ll need to get ready soon since they’ll be showing up at nine,” Veronica announced. Once she cleaned up her plate she took it over to the kitchen and to the sink. After she removed most of the scraps off the plate the girl placed it in the dishwasher. Mrs. Sawyer joined her a minute later.

“Veronica,” her mom spoke in that tone she only used when she had something serious she wanted to ask. “Do you still like hanging out with the Heathers?”

That almost made Veronica slip out of her poker face.

“Mom?” she turned to look at her mother with a wide-eyed stare.

Mrs. Sawyer wrung the rag in her hands while she talked, “It’s just seems like nowadays when either your father and I bring them up, you tense just tiny bit. I know I haven’t been in high school for a long time, but I know an unhappy look when I see it. Friends are supposed to make you feel good about yourself and vice versa. If any of them are making you do something bad or have said something to you, you need to tell them to stop or tell someone else what’s going on.”

_What should I say, Mom? That the Heathers dragged me into a demon summoning ritual that got my soul tainted and I’m still apparently on the rocks with them despite that thing happening?_ Veroncia’s mind asked. She instead went with, “Things are fine, Mom. You don’t need to worry.”

“I just think you should consider trying to make some new friends if your current ones are making you feel tense,” she reasoned.

“I need them,” Veronica said tightly. “I can’t imagine my life without them.” She left out the fact that they are technically part of what little normalcy she had left, but didn’t want to her mom to ask for an elaboration.

Mrs. Sawyer sighed. She didn’t look ready for the conversation to be finished, but she ended with one last statement, “I learned early on that everyone makes mistakes, or does something that hurts somebody else. You have to decide if their actions are bigger than the affection you have for them. Just think about it, please. It would be nice if you had someone like… like Martha again in your life.”

Her mother left her alone at the sink. Veronica took in a heavy breath before she looked down at the water. She could only see a warped, sudsy illegible reflection staring right back at her while a sponge floated over it like a dead corpse.

Even after she drained the water, her tears stained the porcelain.

* * *

WHACK!

“That’s two points,” Heather Duke announced. She twirled a croquet mallet with green stripes on her hands.

Heather McNamara gasped, almost dropping her yellow painted club. “That was a great shot, Heather.”

Heather Chandler inspected her nails without looking up at anyone. “As per usual.” She held her ruby colored mallet over her shoulder as though it always belonged there.

“It’s your turn, Veronica…. Veronica?” the blonde called out.

“What? Oh, sorry.” The black-haired girl shook her head and rearranged her thoughts. “What were you saying, Heather?”

“She said it was your shot,” the Heather keeping score said.

“Right,” she dipped her head down in mild embarrassment before lifting her blue color-coded hammer. Veronica hit the blue ball with a smaller sounding whack and went through the little metal arch with no difficulty.

“And that gives… Veronica less than a point behind Heather, which leaves me two points behind Heather,” Heather Duke said after calculating the score.

Heather Chandler looked like the cat who got the cream after hearing the results while Veronica felt like she was going to be the mouse Cat-Heather was going to chase afterwards.

“Wow, Veronica, you’re sucking really bad today,” Heather McNamara said bluntly to the dark-haired girl. “You usually tie with Heather.” She pointed to the Heather in green to highlight her point.

“What’s your damage, Veronica? You’ve been more listless than Heather is when she’s suffering from a crash diet,” Heather pretended to sound worried, but Veronica could hear the poison behind her honeyed words.

“Oh, I guess I’m still tired from yesterday. Though, I guess most people would be if they had to walk home miles away from school since the buses had already left by the time I reached the school parking lot,” Veronica said in the most passive-aggressive manner she knew.

“You had to walk?” the Heather in yellow, almost sounded sincere with her question.

“Yeah,” Veronica fibbed. Of course, that’s not what happened, but if she had said a ‘friend’ had given her a lift back home and that would make the Heathers (Chandler especially) press her for more details.

“Oh, you mean your new little boy toy didn’t give you a ride?” Heather cooed, fluttering her eyelashes in a phony manner.

Veronica was glad that she had chosen that moment to grab a glass of lemonade her mom had set out for the girls because Heather Chandler would have seen her shocked expression.

“Excuse me?” Veronica managed to ask in a dispassionate tone. She could’ve won an Oscar with her performance.

Heather shook her red locks and frowned at the shorter girl. “Don’t pull on my dick, Veronica. You were in a hurry to blow us off yesterday with some mystery guy you’re obviously with. Why, I figured you’d want to spend as much time with him and that’s why I didn’t wait for you.”

_You ditched me just to be an asshole, asshole!_ Veronica thought. “I’m not seeing anyone.” Which was the technical truth.

“Didn’t Veronica say she was done dating guys in high school?” Heather Duke asked.

Heather McNamara nodded. “I think she said that after Kurt flirted with her last week.”

“Shut up Heather,” the Heather in red ordered.

The other two Heathers exchanged glances with each other. “Wait, which one of us are you talking to?” Blonde Heather questioned.

“Does it matter?”

“Ladies,” Veronica raised both hands and pushed herself in between the bickering popular girls before things got heated. “Please don’t get into a fight. My dad won’t forgive me if there’s blood on his lawn,” she joked in an attempt to ease off the tension.

“Right,” Heather’s sneer slowly melted into a smirk. “We should be focusing more on the guy you’ve been fucking behind our backs.”

_Why don’t I ever keep my mouth shut when it’s important?_ the ebony-haired girl lamented. “For the last time, I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Oh, then why did I see a hickey on your neck yesterday?” the redhead asked.

Veronica had to will her hand to not instinctively go to her neck. The neck she was currently concealing with her blue scarf since the incident in the storage closet.

“I-” she started to say.

“Admit it, you’re seeing some loser and you didn’t want us to find out because we’ll push you back with the bottom feeders in the school’s food chain,” Heather Chandler accused with narrowed eyes.

“I’m not dating anyone,” Veronica said as loudly as she could without alerting the neighbors. A couple of ghosts probably still heard her, though.

“Prove it. Take off your scarf and let’s see if that little love bite is still there.”

  
  
“I don’t have to prove anything. It’s my body and I get to decide how I want to show it to people,” Veronica said, crossing her arms defiantly.

Behind Heather the other two Heathers shared looks with each other, but instead of it being confusion, they were of amazement. When Heather Chandler turned her head. The other two went back to their blind follower gazes they’d been schooling for years.

“Fine… how about you and I have a little wager,” Heather said.

Veronica raised a brow. “A wager?”

“We still have one wicket left in the game to put our balls in,” Heather pointed to the final little hoop by Veronica’s old swing. “Let’s make it interesting and say that whoever pushes their ball in the most interesting way automatically wins the match.”

“What does the person win?” Veronica asked, pretending to sound uninterested, but was the exact opposite.

“ **When** I win, you’ll stop lying and tell me who you’ve been seeing,” Heather said haughtily.

Veronica gritted her teeth together for a moment before calming herself with a deep breath. “If I win, I want you to back off and I want to be finally forgiven for what I did last weekend.” _Whatever it was._

There was a strange glint in Heather Chandler’s eye for a moment, like she was going to retract from the bet. Instead she offered her hand for Veronica to shake. “Sounds like a deal to me.”

Veronica eyed the hand Heather was presenting before she carefully took it and the two teenagers shook. They almost looked like amicable players before a real match, until they were ready to crush the other in the most brutal way possible. Veronica stood to the side with Heather and Heather while they waited to see Heather make her shot.

Heather leaned forward after she stood behind her red ball and eyed it. After a minute of what Veronica assumed was heavy decision-making, the ginger swung her mallet. The ball rolled fast into a left angle that made it look like it was going to miss the wicket entirely. Instead of that happening the ball hit against the big oak tree, and went through the hole.

Heather and Heather clapped out of politeness while Veronica made an audible gulp.

“Your turn,” Heather said sweetly as she twirled her mallet around like she was the head cheerleader instead of Heather McNamara.

Veronica cursed herself for willingly getting into this mess as she walked over to where her ball landed. Just her luck, it was at a spot where there was no way it would reach the final wicket unless she personally lifted the ball up to it.

_I just want one thing I do go right for once,_ Veronica wished. _No strings attached, or backfiring. Just one small thing._

The girl closed her eyes, not wanting to see where the ball would land, and hit it with all her might.

Veronica had to open her eyes once she heard a large thumping noise and was surprised at what she saw. The blue colored ball had somehow flown up in the air and was hitting against two trees, back and forth. It reminded the girl of a life-sized version of pinball, with how rapid the ball moved. She had to duck her head when the ball flew straight towards her. The ball then slammed into her yard’s large white picket fence where one of the boards was loose enough to swing. It stopped spinning at once and ball rolled down from the wall and returned to the spot the croquet game was set. Then, without any further zany feats, Veronica’s ball rolled through the final wicket, pushing Heather’s yellow ball over to the side.

“What. The. Fuck?” Heather Chanlder said while Veronica mouthed the words along with her.

Veronica, remembering the bet, turned to look at the redhead with an even face to cover up her secretly proud feelings inside. “A deal’s a deal, right?”

Her satisfaction at winning became overshadowed by Heather Chandler’s glowering stare.

Veronica and the other Heathers flinched; bracing themselves for the tongue lashing their leader was going to pull.

“You got lucky, Sawyer,” Heather said through gritting teeth. She took in a deep breath before adjusting her jacket and walked away, announcing that she was going to use the bathroom before she and the girls were expected to leave for their respected homes.

Veronica looked at her Swatch and blinked in surprise at how late it had become. Not once did she see a certain red-eyed demon come barging inside her home. Not, that she wanted him to.

“I guess that’s game,” Heather Duke said, not looking like she was bored anymore. The edgy atmosphere from earlier faded after the Queen Bee went inside.

“Wow, Veronica, I didn’t know you could play like that,” Heather McNamara complimented. Her shoulders were less rigid than before.

“Who knew you had it in you,” the Heather in green added.

Veronica felt the side of her lips twitch upwards as a new idea formed in her head. “Yeah, who knew?”

* * *

✬JD✬

It was well past 5 o’clock by the time JD finally found the passage he was looking for.

Ever since Friday night JD had spent the last day and a half cooped up inside his ‘home’ reading through every book that was once safely inside the carpet bag. He didn’t expect the manuscripts to have survived being buried for so many years, but he suspected some Witch magic might’ve been involved in one-way or another.

After JD lit a few candles to see better as nighttime fell he picked up the last book he found inside the bag and hadn’t read yet. The title read, _Pseudomonarchia Hominum Grimoire: The So-Called Monarchy of Humans & Guide To Creatures Not of Man _by _Bael._

Huh, the young demon hadn’t read one of Uncle Bael’s works in decades. He hope that this book wouldn’t bore him to tears like every other one before did.

~~

As long as there has been life and death on Earth,

there has always been a being with the Gift of True Sight.

Seer, Psychic, Clairvoyant, Telepathic are just some of the names used to describe someone with the Gift of seeing the spirits still lingering on the Mortal Plain.

The term Witches, Demons and Angels used to refer to these supernatural humans as a Medium.

Despite Mediums supposedly being around the same time as Angels, Demons and Witches, none of the sides have discovered their exact origin. Nor their allegiance to either side. Demons follow the footsteps of our mighty dark Prince Satan, the remaining Angels have chosen to stay with their Oppressive Jailer, Yahweh, while Witches as a whole became neutral, choosing neither side of Good or Evil, picking their own fights when it suits their own interests. The only theory either faction has is that Mediums are possibly meant to be a bridge between the Mortal and the Spiritual Plain and are not meant to be Good or Evil.

~~

_Oh Opposition, I already know all of this crap,_ JD complained. _Is there anything legitimately useful in this tome or not?_ He was very tempted to skip to the end of the chapter, but decided he needed all the help he could get, and he barely remembered all that much about Mediums. It was the entire reason he dug the carpetbag out in the first place. With no other choice JD decided to just suck it up and continued to read. Just when it seemed like his eyes were about to glaze over there was a certain passage that got his full attention and he zeroed in on it.

~~

The unspoken rule and nature behind Mediums entail that there is always one Medium on Earth. There must always be a person born with the Gift. One thing that isn’t certain is how limited a Medium’s access to their Gift is. Several Witch families have done studies and made a unique discovery. Not all Mediums are alike. Some are even more Gifted than others.

One instance in the late 1400s came in the form of a woman.

She possessed not only the ability to sense the presence of the dead, but could touch, hear and speak to them. Other Mediums before and after her only possessed one or two of the Gift’s abilities. Witches, who had been aligned with this woman, had said she was always in danger of being hounded by Demons of various kinds, believing that her essence to be purer than a normal mortal’s.

After her demise, demons and curious Witches have made repeated claims that if another human with similar abilities manifests, they will stop at nothing to find him, or her.

~~

JD had to re-read the last passage to make sure he read it correctly and discovered that, yes, what he uncovered wasn’t false.

“Well, shit.” Looks like he really had to take his job seriously now.

**End of Chapter 10**

* * *

**Q-A:** Now, that’s what I call a plot twist. But yeah, now JD has real incentive to look after Veronica with the impending threat of more dangerous demons coming after her. Oh, and also Witches

But on the bright side, at least Veronica is off the hook. (For now) She won’t have to answer to the Heathers at the moment, but it’ll only be a matter of time before Heather Chandler finds a new thing to be mad about and blame Veronica for. What did happen that weekend Veronica can’t remember? WHY can’t she remember? Will I ever answer these questions? Yes, yes I will, but just not right now. XD

Sorry for the delay. Thankfully everything should be right back on schedule. Nothing big will be happening in my life for a while so the normal updates should return.

Off topic: has anyone seen or heard of the show, _Helluva Boss_ by _Vivienne "Vivziepop" Medrano_? That show and her other creation _Hazbin Hotel_ , are kinda big influences on my story here, but that’s not important. What is important is that in the second episode one of the guest voices is none other than Barrett Wilbert Weed! Doing a cute British accent, no less! :D Sadly she doesn’t sing, or do that laugh we all love, but it’s nice that my favorite incarnation of Veronica was in one of my new favorite online cartoon series. ^-^ That was just something I wanted to share with all of you.

Oh, and some guy (Alex Brightman) from a musical I think is called Beatle- _grape_ did a song in the episode. *Feigns disinterest, while secretly squeeing like the 16-year-old I once was ten years ago* Not much of a big deal there.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	12. “Reknis dna enil, kooh”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica offers an offer to JD’s offer. The redundancy here is redundant.

✬JD✬

JD didn’t finish the rest of the chapter after reading that very revealing passage. He closed the book and placed it with its counterparts back into the carpetbag. The demon wasted no time putting the other books he found in the attic away, though. He needed to find Veronica and enact his plan.

He went down the stairs and was about to grab the knob on the front door when he heard a knock.

_Opposition,_ he thought while adding a few older curses under his breath. _This better not be one of those people asking if I heard the good news, again._

“Who is it?” he asked in an even tone. The last thing JD wanted was to draw any suspicion as he started to will a more human glamour over his demonic appearance.

“It’s me,” came the voice of his Contractor. She sounded rather pleased(?) to reply.

“What are you doing over here?” He wanted to add the word, darling, at the end, but decided that would be a little too much. And he wasn’t in the mood to be arguing with her for once.

“I have something I wanted to give you,” she said in a sweet tone.

Okay, as much as he wanted to hear her talk to him like that— _wait, what?_ His mind asked, before he pushed it away—even the demon knew she was sounding very suspicious.

“What is it?” he asked, keeping his voice steady.

“It’s a surprise,” she sang.

_Well, that’s suspicious as fuck._ the demon thought, but realized that if he kept this up they would just be going around in verbal circles until he would open the door.

So, after a small moment of consideration, JD opened the door and found his face introduced to a large wooden cylinder. The wood hit him squarely on his jaw and pushed him back until he landed on the floor with the right side hitting it first. JD had to shake himself out of his daze before looking up at the young woman standing before him. She smiled in triumph at him while holding a wooden mallet in her hands.

“What in the Down Below was that?” He held a shocked face after realizing that his jaw had just become dislocated. When was the last time that happened to him?

“I knew it,” his black-haired assaulter said in delight.

JD spared his Contractor a small glance. “Knew what exactly?”

“You told me when we first met that a cross would only work on you if the person believed it could harm a demon. Well, we both know I’m not overtly religious so it took some soul searching before I realized something,” Veronica said as she swung her mallet. “The only reason a cross could work is if the person believes it works. That’s probably how it went down thousands of years ago, right? So that got me thinking, what if I believed in something hard enough, could it count as the same thing?”

She held her oversized wooden hammer in her hands while continuing to look at the demon.

“Like, say, I’m good at croquet. Like surprisingly good at it. I’m so good that I can trust hitting my mallet hard enough to hit a ball into a wicket in the most awesome way. So, if I believe in my mallet hitting skills enough to think I can hit you and make it hurt…”

“You can actually injure me,” he finished in shock. “You actually figured all that out by yourself?”

Veronica shrugged slightly. “Well, I did have to find out how good of a croquet player I apparently am. I guess I’m just a late bloomer.”

JD pushed his jaw around in an attempt to reposition it back to normal before he just settled with letting his magic heal it in due time.

“So, what’s your new plan now that you found a way to control me?” he asked in the flattest voice he could muster.

“Oh, we’re going to do what I wanted from the start,” she said, finishing her swinging motions and rested the mallet on her right shoulder.

_She still wants to ‘help’ people, huh?_ That might work with what JD wanted to do. “Y’know, I think I might be willing to help you out with that.”

“Seriously? Why the sudden change of mind?”

“More like a change of perspective, but there is something that I want from you,” he stated.

“God, what more could you want? First I lose my soul to you, then I had to give my first kiss in four years and now this?” she gave him displeased look.

JD held back a sneer, irritated that she would assume so lowly of him. “It’s not asking for sex if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No, I’m not worried about that,” she said with a blushing face.

Yeah, he wasn’t falling for that. “It’s just a simple request. Nothing more.”

“Nothing is ever simple from you. It better not be-”

“I want to go to the library.”

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Out of all the things Veronica expected to hear the demon ask of her, that threw her off.

“You—what?” She gave him a nonplussed stare.

His pale lips formed a frown. “Do you want me to repeat myself, like some parrot? I said, I-”

“No, no, I heard you the first time,” she interrupted him, waving a hand over his face to shut him up. “You want to go to the library? You’re a demon that’s over 400 years old, you said so yourself. Why would you want to go to a human library all of a sudden?”

“It’s not sudden,” he replied. JD pushed himself up with his hands and easily recomposed his form to appear less frazzled from earlier. “I’m not sure if you’ve figured it out already, but since I’m 417 years old, I have this little habit of getting bored quite easily. And just the idea of being stuck in this house all day while you’re off learning things from Equations to Ecuador has me envious.”

“You like to learn?” She couldn’t believe it.

JD motioned with his hand for her to follow him. Veronica was tempted to just say no, but her damn curiosity got the better of her and trailed after him as he went up the stairs. There she found what appeared to be an old looking fainting couch that she would see in those old black and white movies that her grandparents loved to watch. Next to it was a large crate with several hardcover books inside.

“Have you seen all these books lying around?” He gestured to the large piles that did, indeed, surround them. “I feed off of knowledge almost as much as I do with soul energy. And I think we both know how much I like that.” The demon smiled.

Veronica rolled her eyes at the flirtation. She was not buying that horseshit for a moment. “And how do I know you don’t have any ulterior motives with this request?”

“I want to do something valuable with my time while you’re away. I can’t just amuse myself with re-reading all these books I have. I need more than that to keep me entertained.”

Then it hit her. If she allowed him to go alone to someplace that was public, it could lead to something bad.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head.

“No?”

“Do you need **me** to repeat myself like a parrot?” she mocked back at him.

JD openly scorned at her. “What’s the problem? It’s not like I’ll go around sucking soul energy from anyone else but you.”

“Yeah, but you can still cause some kind of mischief without me there to keep an eye on you. I need to know what you’re doing, or at least someone else needs to watch you…” she trailed off after getting an idea.

“If I can’t always watch you to make sure you stay out of trouble, I know another place that can.” she finished with a smirk.

“Umm, why are you smiling at me like that?” he asked, starting to get nervous.

“If you want to go to a library so badly, how about the one in Westerberg?” she asked with a growing grin.

“You mean go visit Westerberg High School?”

“Not just visit, but also go there as a student?”

JD barked out a hollow laugh. “Are you being serious? Me go to some human school? I thought you didn’t want me there anymore?”

“You can’t suck out anymore souls,” she prompted. “The only thing you could do is hurt people with your powers, but you can’t now that I have a way to enforce my contract on you again,” she said while tapping her mallet in and out of her hand.

The demon frowned at the improvised weapon as though it personally offended him.

“Going to Westerberg where you’d be surrounded by dozens of teachers and hundreds of students would be perfect. You’d have no choice but to be on your best behavior. No magic, no trickery and no fighting.”

“What if there were these really annoying humans that harass me, or-”

“No fighting,” she reinforced. “I don’t want you to lay another hand, foot, tail, wings or anything else from you on another person… even if they are a dick, like Kurt and Ram. I’ll only let you defend yourself when I say so.”

JD sighed. “You’re not going to let me have any kind of fun.”

“If beating the shit out of people is your idea of fun, you and I need to have a serious talk later,” Veronica said.

“Says the girl who just whacked me with a mallet like something out of a _Punch and Judy_ show?” he said.

Veronica frowned. “I had to find a new way to make you listen to me again. So far, it’s working like a charm.”

The demon regarded her for a moment, placing his hands into his pockets.

“So, when do I need to go to the place you once compared to Down Below?” he asked in a resigned tone.

“Monday,” Veronica said decidedly. “The sooner the better. I’m sure I can forge up some papers to make you look like you were born during this century.”

“I think it’ll take more than some convincing papers to make people believe that I’m a normal human.”

“You mean, like, magic?” she asked.

“Correct,” the demon nodded. “Like what I did with the house. I can make people think I’m just some regular kid transferring to your school.”

“I don’t know…” She was still uncomfortable with the type of power the demon wielded.

“People will less likely ask questions if they believe they already have the answer,” JD pointed out. “I’m just trying to be helpful here.”

“And this won’t backfire in anyway?” She didn’t want a Monkey’s Paw scenario in her hands.

“My magic can leave a long-lasting impression, if I make it that way.” he said in reassurance.

Veronica opened her mouth at first before closing her. She had to think this over. Really think it over.

* * *

✬JD✬

The demon watched and waited to hear Veronica’s answer. The two of them standing inside the room with the only sounds coming from outside. After what felt like ten grueling minutes of an interval the girl said, “We can make this work.”

JD offered his hand to her. “So, you’ll let me have something entertaining to do, then?”

“Only if you promise not to hurt anyone… or have somebody do it for you,” she added before taking the demon’s hand.

“Believe me when I say that I’m a firm believer in the old, ‘if you want something done right, you best do it yourself’ approach,” JD said truthfully.

The young mortal woman and demon shook hands. There was no thunder coming from outside, or giant earth shaking quakes, but there was a feeling of electricity in the air JD wasn’t completely sure where it came from. After they unclasped their hands Veronica said she had to go back home to get ready for dinner. The demon carefully watched her leave the house with the croquet mallet in hand. He eyed it judiciously long after the abhorrence was out of his sight. JD’s scowl lessened after his jaw went back into place and Veronica went inside her home. The glower was soon replaced with a smirk.

“Hook, line and sinker,” the demon said. Beside the window he could hear some squeaks and soon found his little friend sitting on the sill, sniffing and crawling around as his whiskers touched the wood. Snowball stilled, then he stood up on his hind legs before jumping off the precipice and landing on the floor in a way a normal hamster never could without breaking his bones. He then moved in a speed faster than a housecat while climbing up the banister and up to the next room.

The demon couldn’t help but laugh at the tinier demon’s enthusiasm in catching a new meal. He understood the feeling very well.

“Aw, Snowball, that worked even better than I hoped it would,” JD told his pet as he climbed up the stairs.

“She fell for my trick in making her think that I didn’t want to go to school with her,” he continued after reaching the third floor and found his demon hamster by a corner.

Sticking out of Snowball’s mouth were the remains of a rat’s foot and tail. He slurped the paw and worm-like tail into his tiny jaws, his cheeks puffing out.

“Did you enjoy your dinner?” JD cooed at his only friend. Snowball crawled into the open palm JD offered before his master lifted him towards his face.

“You should since you’re the only other demon I’m allowing to indulge in your vices while up here,” he said, his voice borderline to a threatening pitch. It wasn’t directed towards the hamster; JD meant all the demons prowling around on the Mortal Plain. If any of them came anywhere near Sherwood, they will have to answer to him.

“I’m going to make sure nothing bad happens to Veronica,” he quietly told the little animal. He stroke Snowball’s back with his index and middle fingers. “She wants to do that little crusade in an attempt to purify her soul? Fine. I’ll humor her while I find a real way to make sure no demon gets their grubby mitts on her.” His red-brown eyes narrowed in determination, they trailed off to look at the red, green and brown flora sown bag.

“I’m not going to fail this time. No matter what **He** tries to do, I won’t let him harm her.” As JD said his words the antlers on his head and the wings grew twice their size and the tips were covered in Hellfire. Out through the third floor window everything outside appeared calm, but JD could sense unrest in the air. Whether it was coming from the ghosts or some other primordial entity was unknown at that time.

With JD’s free hand he lifted the carpetbag and held it tightly to his chest, his gaze focused on street through the window, looking over at a house he was familiar with up to this point.

_I won’t fail Veronica, Mum. Not like I did with you._

**End of Chapter 11**

* * *

**Q-A:** Yep, JD was tricking Veronica all along. He had a hidden agenda and made her think she was the one who came out on top. Sure, Veronica now has a physical way to keep JD in line, but will it really last? Or will she need to find something else more… emotional? XD

I’m sorry that this chapter wasn’t very long. I felt awfully sick last Sunday and had to shorten my work time as my body just shut down that whole day. I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to write this chapter out, but hopefully you all enjoyed it. Things will be getting even more interesting in the next one. :)

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	13. “Eromyna retalS naitsirhC ekil t’nod uoy?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time for JD’s first day of school. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Homophobic slurs.

❦Veronica❦

On a crisp autumn Monday, Veronica Sawyer was standing by the steps at the front of Westerberg. She had called Heather Duke (the regular chauffeur for Mondays) on Sunday if it was alright if she could give her a lift to school a half-hour early. Veronica ‘explained’ about wanting to get some good pictures for a project she was doing before the large mass of students saturated themselves over the nice clean looking lawn. The real reason was so that Veronica could meet up with JD before everyone else showed up so they could run by again all the points they worked on from remainder of the weekend.

_Where is he?_ Veronica thought while pacing. She looked at her Swatch and frowned after seeing the time. There was only 15 minutes left before other people would start to arrive. Right after she lowered her wristwatch down the sound of two wheels moving across the road was heard.

_Finally,_ she sighed in relief. Not at seeing him, but that he made it with some time to spare. That was it.

Veronica then walked down the rather long steps to the front entrance and headed for the spot JD was parking his bike.

“It’s about time you showed up,” she said snappily. “I almost thought you weren’t going to come.”

“And miss out on all the learning and seeing if your description of this dreary place is true?” the demon asked teasingly while slowly removing his helmet. “I wouldn’t miss that for anything…. Why are you staring at me, like, the first night we met?”

“Why the fuck do you look like Christian Slater?” she retorted, pointing at his very different looking appearance.

“You don’t like Christian Slater anymore?” he asked her, his teasing tone making a return.

Veronica scowled, shaking her head. “You can’t use the form of someone else,” she explained. “Especially if they’re a famous person,” she added with a stern glare.

“You said to pick a form that would make me more appealing.”

“I meant as in one that makes you look… human,” she said after a moment of finding the right word. “Normal. Like on the night we first me, just without the horns, wings and tail.”

“What even constitutes as normal?” he let out an undignified snort.

“Don’t get philosophical on me, demon boy. Just change into a human version of you,” she ordered.

After he made a half-hearted mutter of ‘demon man’ the seemingly human looking being’s appearance started to shift. The recognizable hair, skin and bone structure returned. The only thing that didn’t change were the clothes. They were the same dark plaid, pants and black trench coat as always.

“So…” He asked very fluently, lifting his shoulders and giving her a pointed stare.

“It’s fine,” Veronica said while scrutinizing every little detail she could find. When her eyes landed on his she paused. “Except, this is nothing going to work.”

“What isn’t?”

“Your eyes,” she said while pointing at them. “They still look all demonic. Isn’t there a way you can change the color?”

JD blinked and started to look self-conscious. “That’s actually the one thing I can’t do when I’m in **my** human form. If I’m disguised as someone else I can hide it just fine, but not when I look like the more human concept of me.”

“Isn’t there anyway you can make them look normal?” she asked.

“This **is** normal where I’m from,” he replied pointedly.

Veronica sighed. “You’re not being funny.”

JD frowned thoughtfully. “I might have something that ought to work.” He put a hand inside one of his multiple pockets and pulled something out of it. Veronica saw a long silver chain with a silver ring designed to look like two hands holding a heart wearing a crown. Despite how old the ring looked it didn’t show any signs of tarnish or scratches. JD noticed her looking at the ring and smirked, as though he was thinking of a joke Veronica didn’t know about. Then he placed the chair around his neck and instantly the red in his eyes were replaced with the same white every human Veronica did and didn’t know have.

“Where did-” she started to say before he cut her off with a dismissive wave.

“It’s not important,” he said conclusively. “Just a little token with some magic to conceal the parts of me I can’t get away from.” He smiled ruefully. “It’s a tragic story, might tell it to you later sometime.”

Veronica only shook her head. It was hard for her to know when he was being serious.

“You remember the rules we came up with, right?” she asked in order to change the subject.

“Yes,” the demon said, sighing. “I shan’t willingly turn into my demon in front of humans, no mind manipulation, unless it’s for my cover. I’m not allowed to fight anyone, even if they’re—as you say—a dick. And most of all, no magic allowed, unless it’s for the aforementioned secret identity that I’m using.”

“And what is your secret identity?” she asked quizzically. Veronica was referring to the one she came up with all Saturday and Sunday with him.

“My name is Jason Dean,” he introduced himself as though he was speaking to someone new. “I lived around the country, never staying in one place for too long thanks to my **dad’s** job in deconstruction-”

“That’s construction,” she corrected.

“Not what I call it,” he muttered before continuing, “I’ve been to ten high schools, play the saxophone during my spare time, like long walks on the beach, read novels, rewrite television screenplays for a living—”

“Can’t you please take this seriously?” she asked. “You need to keep your story on track. If you make up a bunch of nonsense other people will pick it up and figure out you’re lying.”

“I am lying,” he reminded her.

“Yeah, well, it’s better than telling the truth, unless you do want to be chased by a lynch mob or sent to the Vatican.”

The demon shuddered. “I wouldn’t last five seconds if I landed there.”

“Then don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself if you want to stay on Earth,” she instructed. “Just, keep things simple and don’t make any scenes. And most of all, no fighting and **no** magic.” Veronica pointed at him, giving him the fiercest look she could muster.

JD sighed, clearly not happy about all the limitations he’s going to deal with before reluctantly nodding. “If it weren’t for that damn mallet I wouldn’t be so lenient with you.”

She smirked. “I know.”

* * *

Veronica shut the door to her locker after putting her English book away and replaced it with one for math. She was actually going to lunch first, but since her class was at the opposite end of where her locker was located, the girl knew better to keep what she would later need instead of having to face a potential detention for tardiness.

She was on her way to the cafeteria (creatively nicknamed ‘the caf’) when the black-haired girl bumped into someone.

“God, sorry, I wasn’t looking,” Veronica said as she picked up the oversized textbook that fell out of her bag.

“Here, let me help you,” came the voice of someone Veronica recognized. She looked up and produced a smile. A real one. Thankfully the person she ran into was none other than her classmate Betty Finn.

“Veronica,” Betty greeted.

“Hey,” the black-haired girl nodded slightly. Her eyes shifted around to make sure no one was watching them.

“I didn’t really get a chance to talk with you back in first period,” she heard the girl with the glasses say.

“Yeah, uh, is it alright if we talked where it’s less crowded?” Veronica asked.

“Oh, right.” Betty shifted her head, looking embarrassed. “Sorry. I forgot.”

“It’s alright,” she said before leading Betty to a deserted looking hallway that still lead to the caf. Even though the corridor looked secluded Veronica made the effort to shift her eyes around to make sure there was no one else besides the two of them. Veronica hated herself for asking Betty to go along with her request. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of any other way to prevent other people, mostly the Heathers, from seeing her talk to someone out of her social circle.

“How did your talk with Mrs. Church go the other day?”

“She says I might need to get a tutor to help me with my class and homework,” Veronica said, uttering a dejected sigh.

“That’s not really that bad, is it?” Betty asked, sounding unsure of herself.

“I can’t be seen getting help with my classwork. People will get the idea that I care about my grades, which popular kids aren’t supposed to because that’ll make it look like I’m some nerd,” Veronica explained, recalling the same warning Heather Chandler gave her a year earlier when Heather McNamara needed help with math.

“Just like you can’t be seen with me?” Betty asked.

Veronica felt like a jerk. “I don’t mean this to be—”

“No, I get it,” the brunette replied, giving the taller girl an understanding look. “My old school was the same way like Westerberg. If anyone was seen with somebody that doesn’t look like them, they get seen as a loser.”

“I just don’t want to be hunted down in study hall or get my head mounted like a rhino,” Veronica said as lame excuse.

“I get that, really I do.”

“Let’s not talk about school stuff right now. How was you’re weekend?” Veronica asked.

She and Betty went into a friendly discussion over what their respected activities were the last two days. Betty had helped her folk unpack the last of their belongings which took way longer than expected despite them having moved to Sherwood over the summer. They then went to church on Sunday and had a brunch afterwards at the local _Cracker Barrel._ Veronica gave her a condensed version of what she did over the weekend (making sure to exclude everything related to JD).

“Wow, that really did sound like a lucky shot,” Betty commented after Veronica told her about the croquet match.

Veronica beamed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been the one to make it.”

“So… were you telling the truth about not going out with a guy?” Betty asked.

“I’m definitely not dating anyone, Betty.”

“Are you sure?” the brunette asked teasingly.

Veronica rolled her eyes, good-naturedly. “Positive.”

Somehow the black-haired girl’s flat response compelled Betty to giggle. It soon led to Veronica laughing herself and for once she wasn’t too worried about hiding how awkward it sounded. Betty Finn was the type of person to not judge someone for how different they seemed to be. It was one of the reasons that she reminded Veronica of—

The sound of nearby voices silenced the two girls amused moment. Veronica recognized it as other laughter, only it sounded far hollower.

“Shit, it’s the Heathers,” she realized with a mixture of annoyance and trepidation.

“I should probably go, right?” Betty asked, sounding equally worried.

Veronica nodded and said goodbye to her new fri—classmate. Betty was just a classmate. That’s all she could be.

Betty moved ahead of Veronica and turned to a corner down the hall. Heather, Heather and Heather entered through the opposite one. Their grating guffawing ceased once they regarded Veronica’s presence.

“Who was that?” Heather Chandler asked the ebony-haired girl. Veronica schooled her expression, but was secretly panicking on the inside.

“I think that was Betty Finn,” Heather Duke answered. “She’s in my English lit. class during second period.”

“Was I asking you who she was, Heather?” the redhead demanded, giving the brunette a side-eyed look of disproval.

Heather bowed her head. “No.”

“She’s in my history class,” Veronica stepped in, sparing Heather from Heather’s further disparagement. “She was just asking for some notes.”

“Why would she ask for notes from you? It’s History, like, your worst subject?”

“That’s what I told her,” she smoothly countered the blonde Heather who asked. “Finn sits near me and probably thought all my rough note writing meant I was good in that class.”

“Really?” Just like with last week Heather Chandler didn’t look completely convinced.

Veronica’s pupils shrunk. She had heard Heather use that tone of voice before. It sounded exactly like the same one she used one year ago when she learned about another friend Veronica had.

“Say, Heather you told me Heather wanted me to write up a doctor’s note to skip gym later, right?” Veronica asked the dark-haired Heather.

“Uh, yeah,” Heather Duke nodded.

“Write one for me too,” Heather McNamara asked. “I’ve been feeling a little bad earlier. Not enough to upchuck my guts, but I don’t want to go to gym and get sick before practice later today.”  
  


The distraction paid off as all three Heathers told Veronica what to write in her forged notes. She made sure each one was different in wording so the gym coach wouldn’t suspect they were obvious forgeries.

“See you later in the caf, right Veronica?” Heather ‘requested’. “We’re going to do that poll there and then.”

“I hope it won’t be like the one where they ask other students what they would do with 5 million dollars two days before the world was supposed to end,” the ghost of a Sherwood resident who was a victim of the Cincinnati Court-house riots griped at once after appearing out of thin air.

Mr. Poole, who was standing next to the other male spirit nodded. “I swear their polls get worse with each one they do.”

_Can’t you both shut up?_ Veronica really wanted to say. She also wanted to remind them that she could hear them and wanted to ask them to leave. **But** she couldn’t. Not while the Heathers were still present.

“Veronica?” Heather repeated, getting annoyed.

Veronica shook her head and meekly apologized to her fri—boss and told her she would join them. Then she walked with the girls, leaving the ghosts alone like she had done during most encounters with them.

The caf was crowded when they arrived, but there was still one table left vacant for their group. Veronica and the Heathers placed their bags there before the girl in blue headed in line for lunch. Heather McNamara also got up, telling the girls she was going to go sit with Ram for a while since he asked her to in-between classes.

Veronica was about to grab a tray when someone else beat her to the punch and handed it to her. She looked up and did her best to hide her surprise at seeing the demon boy.

  
“You shouldn’t let those girls get to you like that,” JD said to Veronica out of the blue. The way his tone sounded stilted made it appear that he didn’t know her that well to the other students.

“Excuse me?” Veronica was both affronted that the demon was calling her out and the fact he was breaking one of the biggest rules of talking to her in front of other people.

“I was there when I saw them ask about that girl you were speaking with.”

Veronica narrowed her eyes at him. “And how much did you hear?”

“Just the part where you two were giggling about some sort of gossip before the other girls arrived.” He looked rather amused during the first half of his explanation before his expression turned emotionless.

“Surely you must still have a good soul underneath all that product and designer clothes,” he said further. “You got to work on keeping it clean. ‘We all are born marked for evil.’” He gave her a slight smirk that only she could see before he walked off, not bothering to grab any food for himself, which she knew the reason why.

“Hey, wait,” she told him to stop, not sure why she was doing so. “You can’t just say a _Baudelaire_ quote at me and then fuck off.”

“Oh? Since when?” JD sounded rather tickled at her statement.

Veronica started to notice a couple of eyes peering at their conversation and realized she should probably wrap it up before a crowd would form.

“I, uh, didn’t catch your name?” she asked, remembering that this was the ‘first’ time anyone was seeing them talk to each other and she had to make it seem like it was simply that.

JD looked at her for a moment before forming a deeper smirk. “I didn’t throw it.” With that said he pulled out a book that he was somehow holding in his coat and walked off.

_How dare he use the exact same line I never said to him,_ Veronica thought as she continued to gape incredulously at him.

* * *

♥Heather♥

Heather McNamara was busy hanging onto Kurt’s shoulder when the conversation between Veronica and that strange new kid ended. She hadn’t paid too much heed to it, despite Heather ordering her and Heather to keep tabs on Veronica if she really was lying about the whole secret boyfriend deal. But it wouldn’t make sense if Veronica was with the new kid since he had apparently just moved into Sherwood over the weekend. Besides, out of all the members in the quartet, Veronica was the least likely to hide anything from the others. She was an open book and too easy to read.

“Who does that jerk think he is, walking around in that stupid trench coat?” Kurt asked Ram. “ _Bo Diddley_?”

“I bet ‘Ronica is into his act,” Ram said. In his eyes Heather could see them glaring enviously at the new kid. The cheerleader supposed it was justified since that was the longest conversation Veronica had with a guy and didn’t look annoyed speaking with him.

“Um, she doesn’t like it when people call her-” Heather tried to interject, but both boys ignored her.

“Hey, why don’t we kick his ass?” Ram asked all of a sudden.

Both Heather and Kurt gave him the same dumbfounded look.

“Dude, we only go after underclassmen,” the taller jock reminded his friend. “Chandler said we’re too old for that shit, anyway.”

“Let’s just do it this once to show the newbie his place,” Ram stated like it was the smartest answer in the world.

“No, wait—maybe you shouldn’t—” Heather attempted but like before they weren’t listening to her. Not really.

The ends of Heather’s fingertips started to tingle a bit, as though she was tempted to do something, but she curled them up and suppressed that feeling away.

She was not meant to instigate things unless Heather told her too. All Heather needed to be was the Head Cheerleader dating the popular jock, and smile and look pretty while being rich. The only times anyone would listen to her was when she did her cheers. There was nothing more for her to worry about, Heather always told her.

_Yet why do I feel like something bad **is** about to happen? _Heather thought as she noticed Kurt and Ram confronting the new kid from the corner of her eye. She was just ready to turn her head away and pretend she wasn’t seeing anything like before when something unexpected happened.

* * *

✬JD✬

The demon didn’t have much to note on how uneventful his day was going. So far Westerberg didn’t change that much to him now that he was among the student body. He guessed it had something to do with his choice in appearance. Nobody probably wanted to be seen with the only kid in school that wore dark clothing and had a perpetually unfriendly looking expression. Some of them were probably curious as to why he suddenly approached one of the popular girls.

Yes, he still remembered the dumb list of rules Veronica set out for him and he followed them (most of the time) so he knew about not bothering her while school was in session. And yet, he didn’t want to stand idly while those Heathers walked all over Veronica. While his exposure to modern mortals was limited he could already tell that she was one of the stronger ones. Like, she could make it in the world and kick it right in the ass if she pleased. So that was what frustrated him when the other girls started harassing her. All he knew was if that ever happened to him he wasn’t going to be keeping his head down.

Fate seemed to not be on his side again when someone roughly shoved him at the table he was sitting at.

“Hey, Sweetheart! Was your boyfriend upset when you moved here to Sherwood, Ohio?” a taller, more muscular looking mortal said loudly to JD. The demon formed a very annoyed mien at the human for interrupting his reading. JD was ready to go someplace else when another idiotic human chose to sit to his right. Both of the bimbos sandwiched JD on both sides, preventing his escape. Or at least that’s what they were thinking.

“Hey my buddy Kurt just asked you a question, faggot.” the newcomer said into JD’s ear.

“Hey, Ram doesn’t this caf have a no homos allowed rule?” the newly identified Kurt asked the male JD now knew as Ram.

JD decided he had enough of this nonsense as he slammed his book shut. He gave both Kurt and Ram a side-eyed glance.

“Hey simp, does this place also have an open-door policy for assholes?” JD then asked, mimicking their irritating inflections perfectly.

To the jocks credit it took them far less time to register the old insult than JD expected them. Once they did they both glared at the demon with incensed expressions.

“Hold his arms,” Kurt ordered his friend who followed the instructions with no form of hesitation.

JD humored the mortals by allowing them to grab him. Kurt and Ram both had animalistic glares as they readied to pound the seemingly weak looking new classmate of theirs. JD was glad to know their names now so he knew what to put them on their obituaries.

**End of** **Chapter 12**

* * *

**Q-A:** Merry (Belated) Christmas everyone!

Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Is JD really going to break Veronica’s rule already? Not a great way to start your first day of school, though I suppose that’s perfectly in form with JD. XD Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

References:

Fun-fact: The term _simp_ originated in the 1910s. It basically meant a stupid or foolish person. Which I guess is the same connotation we use today, from a certain point of view.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	14. “T’now uoy ro t’nac uoy”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica witnesses JD’s ‘fight’ while Heather Chandler hatches a plan.

❦Veronica❦

Veronica was in the middle of the line to get food when it happened. She heard Kurt yelling loudly towards some poor classmate and turned around to see who it was. The ebony-haired girl gaped in shock seeing that the ‘victim’ was none other than JD. She didn’t have time to think when Ram showed up a moment later, saying something else inaudible. She couldn’t see what JD was saying to them due to his back facing her but judging from the jocks expressions they were weren’t nice words.

_Dammit, JD, what did you do this time?_ she thought worriedly. Veronica started to move away from her spot in line right as Ram and Kurt grabbed JD by his arms. She was ready to rush over in an effort to stop the fight before it began.

Now despite what anyone reading this might be thinking, Veronica didn’t want to prevent any violence because she hated it (which she did), or because she cared about JD in any significant way (that was also true), to her shock she was worried for the two jocks. While Veronica had yet to see how JD could handle himself in a scrimmage, she had a pretty good feeling he’d be the one that would be harming the two, brainless boys, not the other way around as every other student was thinking. The girl was almost halfway across the caf when she saw Kurt about to hit JD while Ram was holding him in place. The jock’s fist was inches away from JD’s face when, in the very last second, slipped out of Ram’s hold and the hand collided with the other young man’s chest.

_What?_ Veronica and every student in the caf thought.

The move wasn’t a one-time deal either. JD dodged all the other hits both jocks made at him. He slipped and dived away, always appearing to be a close call each time, but Veronica had a feeling he was only doing that on purpose. She was guessing that he could fight back and defeat them both with ease, but was choosing not to do that.

_Because I told him to,_ she realized. _I ordered him not to hurt anyone… by his own hands at least,_ she thought the last part right after JD directed Ram to punch Kurt in the face.

“Did you fuckin’ punch me, dude?” Kurt demanded, while holding what as probably his broken nose in place.

Ram scowled. “It’s not my fault. That stupid retard moved outta the way.”

“That sounds a lot like an oxymoron to me,” JD said cheerily. “A very bigot thing to say I might add. I think the correct term should be a person with a mental disability, but that’s just me.”

“What’s your damage, fag?”

“Okay, see, that’s what I’m talking about,” the demon said, vaguely gesturing to the human. “You keep using derogatory insults to people who you view as lesser than you. It’s a clear sign that you both either live in very unhealthy environments where that type of behavior is encouraged, or because of toxic masculinity thanks to exposure from the media.”

While Veronica understood what JD was saying it was clear that the jocks had no idea. Their visible confusion soon turned into anger and the two charged at the shorter looking person. JD once more moved out of the way and the boys ended up knocking themselves into the first adult to arrive at the scene. The teacher turned out to be the football team’s coach who grabbed both boys by the collars of their letterman’s.

“That’s enough, boys,” Coach Offerman said to Kurt and Ram.

“It wasn’t our fault,” Kurt whined before pointing at JD. “He’s the one that started it.”

JD, by this point, was leaning against a pillar. reading his book. He looked up at the three while displaying the most indifferent look Veronica had seen on him. “Sir, I was just reading my book here when these two started acting like buffoons. I am merely an innocent bystander during this whole affair.”

“He’s a lying bastard,” Ram shouted. He glared at the other students. “You all saw, right? He came right at me and Kurt.”

Despite how frightened most of the student body appeared to be no one spoke out in agreement with what the linebacker was saying. Nobody even mustered a nod from how stunned they were. Instead, all eyes were on the new kid. The students that looked at him showed a mixture of awe, slight respect and mostly fear. None of them had ever seen anyone come out of a fight with Westerberg’s star players without a single scratch on him or her.

Ram and Kurt could only gape in shock themselves. This was probably the first time none of the kids they tormented were scared enough to do as they commanded.

The coach didn’t seem to care enough of what either side was saying and focused his attention on his two players. “I don’t care who started it, I’m the one that finishes it, got it? Now, I want you both to apologize and agree to run a couple more laps at practice.”

“Seriously?” Kurt protested.

“Now, Kelly. Same with you, Sweeney.”

Both boys grumbled slight protests but did what they were told under the strong scrutiny of their coach. They said sorry to each other about the punches they inflicted and then were forced to approach JD. Veronica was too far off to hear what the boys said, but she had a feeling it wasn’t as pleasant as their body language made it out as.

* * *

✬JD✬

“We’re sorry,” Kurt started to say before adding in a whisper, “that you’re such a wimp who’s too much of a bitch to punch back.”

“While I do apologize for my first comment, I won’t ever be sorry for standing up for myself,” the demon whispered back. He glared at both young men and leaned forward to look directly at them. “I really do hope you both get what’s coming for you.” For one brief second, he gave them a wide manic grin, showing off his sharp canines that almost looked demonic, even though they weren’t with the illusion still in place.

Both human boys pretended that JD’s intimidation tactics didn’t work on them but were secretly frightened, momentarily. Coach Offerman than dragged Kurt and Ram away from the demon. After that the coach told everyone to return to their previous actions.

“Figures they’d be given a firm warning instead of actually getting punished for their crime,” JD complained loudly enough for the other students to hear. Unfortunately for him, no one else voiced their grievances with him and simply went back to their lunch meals.

_Just like the flock that blindly follows the Sheppard,_ the demon thought with a disappointed sigh. He got ready to head to his table when Veronica walked by him, knocking her shoulder against his. JD stepped forward, readying to complain until his right boot touched something. He looked down to see a wadded-up ball of paper. After checking to make sure no one else was looking, the demon picked up the sphere and unfolded the parchment until he flattened it enough to be legible.

I, Veronica Sawyer command you, JD, to discreetly follow me out of the caf.

When you find me make us invisible so no one can see or hear us talking to each other.

_Smart girl,_ the demon thought before he rolled up the paper back into a ball and threw it into the trash.

JD walked out of the large room, following the scent of his Contractor. He soon found her in an empty hallway near the cafeteria. She was pacing back and forth, unaware of his presence. JD cleared his throat to obtain her attention, which led to her whipping her head back to look at him. She motioned for him to come over and gave him a glowering stare.

JD wasted no time in applying the spell.

**“Seye latrom morf em dna rotcartnoC ym laecnoc.”**

* * *

❦Veronica❦

“Okay, so we’re completely invisible?” Veronica asked right after he finished.

“Check out your reflection on that window over there,” he pointed to the opening that showed the school’s back lawn. Veronica looked at the glass and was a little shocked at not seeing a transparent version of herself looking back at her. She instead saw the green field with no obstructions blocking her vision and noticed a stray cat walking by a large oak tree.

“And no one can-”

“HEY KID!” JD yelled at a student that just so happened to be walking by the hall the two were in. The student didn’t even flinch after the demon shouted at his general direction.

JD turned around to gaze at Veronica. “You don’t have to worry about anyone seeing or hearing us until you want them to. The spell will last as long as you want it to last.”

“Okay,” Veronica nodded. Then she slapped him in the face. Hard.

“What the down Below?”

“That should be my line,” Veronica retorted. “Only, I’d use Hell, obviously, but that’s not important. What’s important is that I told you not to get into any fights and what is it that you did? You got into a fight with Ram Sweeny and Kurt Kelly of all people.”

“Those two morons were the ones who started it,” JD said, crossing his arms. “I was just reading my book, minding my own business when they crowded around me.”

“You must’ve done something to appear in their radar.”

“Well,” the demon started to smirk. “I could smell a strong case of envy on the one with curly hair.”

“Kurt?”

“It took a second of being near him for me to figure out that he was pretty jealous of the fact that I was talking with a certain black-haired beauty.”

Veronica glared at him. “Be serious.”

“I am. The reason Kurt got all upset was because of his infatuation with you.”

“That’s something I can’t control.”

“I can, though. I could make him stop being attracted to you… Or do something a little bit more permanent?”

“You want to kill them?” Veronica asked with fright. Honestly she was surprised at how shocked she was by this point.

“I want them dead, but I can’t kill them.” JD specified.

“You can’t or you won’t?”

The demon sighed. “Demons aren’t supposed to kill humans. Yes, we do need to feed on their soul essence, but we can’t devour their souls entirely while on the Mortal Plain unless we want Angels to come after us.”

“Angels exist?” Veronica said in surprise.

JD nodded before he mustered a grimace. “Yep, annoying blighters who possess that whole ‘holier than thou’ mentality. They’re usually sent down to Earth in order to rid of any demons that are able to break through the barrier.”

“There’s a barrier? A barrier that blocks out demons?” she assumed before a new thought came to her. “But wait, how are you here if they’re supposed to be a wall keeping you out?”

“The barrier is meant to keep out the really big and nasty demons out. Namely the Six Lords of Hell and their master, the Prince, ” JD explained. “Imagine the barrier as a giant fishing net and the Lords and Prince as whale-sized fishes who can’t escape. Now the net can keep them from heading over to the Mortal Plain, but it has holes like all nets do and some of the smaller demons manage to wiggle out.”

“And that’s how you were able to come here?” Veronica asked.

“No, don’t you remember? I was **invited** here after I accepted the request you and your lady-friends made last week. I wouldn’t have been able to come here on my own unless there was a literal opening in the barrier wide enough for me to break though.”

“So, you’re a lot more powerful than you look.”

JD frowned in slight annoyance. “I’ll pretend you didn’t do a stealthy-insult. I wasn’t allowed to come to Earth due to a certain individual not wanting me here.”

“Is it God?”

The demon let out a hearty laugh. “As if I mattered to Him. I’m just a little blip in His radar compared to some many other threats to His domain and on the Mortal Plain. No, no, it was my Boss who didn’t want me here.”

“Your boss?”

“The Boss all demons are supposed to answer to. The one that started it all in the first place.”

“You mean Satan?”

JD chuckled. “No, Satan’s the Lord of Wrath but I understand the misconception. I believe you humans have a different name for the Prince. Lucifer.”

“And he’s the ruler of Hell.”

“And represents the Sin of Pride for obvious reasons if you do remember the old story of him thinking he’d do the Man Upstairs’ job better than him.”

Veronica frowned while mulling over what JD told her. “So, who are the other lords and what sins do they represent?”

“The other five Sins are, Sloth, Greed, Lust—”

“Your personal favorite,” Veronica said with an amused, knowing look. JD grinned in return before continuing, “And there’s Envy and Gluttony.”

“And their lords are?”

JD opened his mouth right as another voice rang out, “Veronica!”

“Looks like the evil step-mother and her daughters are looking for you, Cinderella.”

Veronica sighed, choosing to ignore the demon’s flirtatious tone. “Looks like it.” She gave him a firm look and said, “You aren’t going to get into any more trouble, do you understand?”

“Even when I’m not looking for trouble it has a weird way of finding me instead.”

“Just don’t talk to anyone besides the teachers for the rest of the day,” she encouraged. “They might still get pissed at your snarky comments, but they aren’t allowed to hit any of the students so you should be safe. If you don’t do anything stupid.”

The demon looked annoyed at her again which she was quite pleased with seeing. It meant that she was winning, in a way.

“VER-RON-I-CA!”

“Time to face the stepsisters,” the ebony-haired girl said with a sigh. She asked JD to lift the invisibility spell off of her and he willingly obliged.

“Maybe you should let your demon-godfather take care of them for you?” he asked as she started walking down the hall.

“The contract states that you aren’t allowed to tempt me with anything,” she reminded him, not bothering to look back and continued to walk straight forward.

“It was just a helpful suggestion,” JD called out but she wasn’t listening anymore.

_Sometimes I wish that I did have a real fairy godmother helping me._ But Veronica knew that couldn’t happen. Fairytales weren’t real and she was certainly not getting a happy ending at this rate.

* * *

✬JD✬

In the first time JD could think he was glad that the ginger and her flock interrupted his discussion with Veronica. Normally he would hate when his talks with Veronica were cut short, but this time he didn’t mind it as much. Her questions were beginning to get a little too close for comfort in his opinion and thanks to that contract he couldn’t stop himself from telling Veronica everything if she asked. There was certain topics related to his personal life that he wanted to keep under lock and key.

_Too bad she now has that key in her hands without realizing it,_ JD thought as he watched Veronica approach her ‘friends.’

As the gormless bimbos circled around the demon’s Contractor he felt a surge of protection go through him as he watched Veronica smiling, but it never reaching her eyes.

_What are they saying to her?_ the demon thought. He decided to keep himself unseen in order to be closer to the girls and hear what was going on.

What he discovered made him conflicted in more ways than one.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

“Where were you?” Heather Chandler asked Veronica right off the bat.

“I was—” she began.

“Never mind, I don’t want to hear any excuses from you,” Heather snapped. She straightened her red duble-breasted peacoat before looking at Veronica again. “What I want to know is why were the two best players on the football team engaged in a fight with the school’s new delinquent?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking me,” Veronica replied coolly. “I wasn’t anywhere near the fight when it happened.”

“Heather here told me that you were the reason that fight happened.” Heather jerked her head, motioning towards Heather.

“What?” Veronica looked over at the blonde.

Heather frowned. “I didn’t say that” she squeaked before looking down. “Kurt was just mad ‘cause we all know how much he likes Veronica and got all upset after he saw her talking with that new kid.”

“Which is stupid since I’m never going to be dating him,” the black-haired teenager said, groaning.

“Because he’s still in high school?” Heather Chandler asked.

“Well, that and because he’s one of the biggest, dumbest douchebags I’ve had the displeasure of knowing.”

“But he’s still a popular douchebag,” Heather Duke stated, though she looked just about as disinterested in him as Veronica.

“I have very high standards,” Veronica concluded with.

Heather Chandler had a far-off look on her face that went away before anyone, but Veronica noticed. The redhead than gave the shorter girl a knowing smile. “That’s so very, Veronica. I’m glad you know you deserve better than what Westerberg has to offer.”

“You are.” Veronica said in a flat tone.

“Of course, I can be very understanding and generous when I want to be. In fact, I think it’s time for your first party at Remington.”

Veronica did a double take, along with the other two Heathers. “Are you for real?”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I am. My boyfriend is hosting a kegster next month on Halloween and asked if I had a friend who’d like to be set up with one of his.”

Veronica was all for it until she heard the date. “It’s going to be on Halloween?”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“I—” the black-haired initially said before stopping herself.

The reason Veronica paused after learning about the date the party was going to be on had to do with Halloween. Not many people knew (or cared enough to know) that Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, was on the day when the veil between the lands of the living and the dead was at its weakest. The entire reason humans dressed up in costume was a byproduct of when their ancestors put on masks and other disguises to pretend, they were spirits too so they would not be attacked or eaten. Veronica never had to worry about some monster trying to devour her—until recently—but what made her uncomfortable was the large number of ghosts meandering around Sherwood on those nights every year. Not all of them were friendly so she opted to stay indoors. Veronica was very glad she had grown out of trick-or-treating before she gained her abilities or else her parents would’ve been confused at her wanting to be in their home on Halloween night.

And the idea of going to a different town that Veronica wasn’t familiar with its ghost population on Halloween of all days didn’t sit right for her.

“You did say you wanted to start dating guys that aren’t still in high school, right?” Heather asked, breaking through Veronica’s internal struggle.

  
“I did.” The redhead was right and had boxed Veronica into a corner.

“So, you aren’t going to puss out, are you?” Heather gave her a look.

Veronica wanted to say no, really. But she couldn’t. The girl just couldn’t come up with a reasonable enough excuse and there was a part of her that selfishly wanted to go. Not just because it was going to be her very first collage party, but maybe it would get her mind off of her impending doom, at least for a little while. When she said yes Heather looked very pleased and said she and the girls would be seeing her after school. They assured her that they would make sure she wouldn’t ‘miss’ her ride home. Veronica gave them a very forced smile as the Heathers shared one of their high-pitched laughs.

It was moments like these that made Veronica think her friendship with the Heathers was more like an unpaid internship: painful and unfulfilling.

* * *

✞Heather✞

“But Heather, you told me this would be my time to go to Remington with you,” the Heather in green said to Heather Chandler as they headed to the class they shared.

“God, do you have to sound so whiny all the time? The reason told Veronica that she was going instead is because I don’t want her seen with that _Jack Nicholson_ -looking freak, alright?”

“How do you know that she wants to be with him?”

“It’s so obvious that she was ready to drop her panties at him after seeing her watching him during that so-called fight earlier,” Heather said. Her eyes were facing straight ahead as she ignored all the kids in the hall. “She’s acting like her social life won’t die if she is checking him out. I’m doing her a solid by setting her up with one of my boyfriend’s classmates.”

“Which one?” Heather Duke couldn’t keep track of every boy her friend knew.

“I’m thinking David. He seems harmless enough and easy to manipulate if he gets out of line. All Veronica would need to do is put out for once and he’d be easy to control.”

“She might not like that,” the Heather in green almost said in a warning tone.

Heather rolled her eyes, sighing exasperatedly. “Veronica has been using her virgin card long enough. She’s got to fuck some guy eventually and no time’s better than the present.”

Heather didn’t appear all that convinced.

“Trust me, she’ll thank me later for giving her this opportunity,” Heather said as though she could read the other Heather’s mind.

Heather sighed, fingering the cross she wore under her blouse.

_I really do hope there’s a way you can get out of this, Veronica._ The brunette stiffened when she felt a strange pulse run through her core.

_Where did that come from?_

* * *

✬JD✬

JD had enough of hearing the girls plans. He slipped down the hallway, walked pass the Head Heather and her green lackey whose last name he didn’t bother to remember. While still invisible he snuck through the door and the demon stretched out his wings and flew until he landed near the 7-Eleven. He walked past the zoned-out cashier and headed straight for the Slurpee machine, grabbing the largest cup the store had.

He really needed a freakin’ drink.

**End of Chapter 13**

* * *

**Q-A:** Happy (Belated) New Year everybody! I hope you all had a fun, safe Dec. 31st wherever you were. I spent my last day of the year home with my family and we all hoped for 2021 to be… less terrible than 2020 was to everyone. My resolution is to not go crazy if we go under lockdown again. It will probably be the first resolution that I’ll follow through with. XD

Anyway, were you happy with the chapter? Did you expect to see what you read? Did you like that I made JD a feminist? It’s all building up to something. I can assure you.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	15. “Flesym lrig ydnarb a fo erom m’I”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica gets a [haunted] house call.

❦Veronica❦

Veronica should’ve been worried with why she hadn’t seen JD since the talk in the hallway, but she was more focused on trying to get her homework for History completed.

Mrs. Pope told them they had a project due at the end of the month in the form of an oral report. Luckily for Veronica she had no stage fright and even liked doing speeches. What was unlucky was the fact that her teacher assigned them what their topics had to be about. She chose Veronica to do England during the Napoleonic Wars.

_Why couldn’t she have picked a closer era? Like five years ago? I bet a lot of things happened in 1984 like…. Dammit, why is my mind all a blank?_ Veronica ready to throw her textbook into the wall but stopped herself in the last second. She didn’t want to explain to her parents why there was a book shaped dent on the wall. They were still a bit peeved when she did the same thing with her journal a few months prior.

“God, I wish I could do something else than this,” Veronica said, voicing her thoughts.

“I might have an idea.”

The black-haired girl turned to look at window and saw a familiar specter.

“Agatha?” Veronica quirked an eyebrow.

“Hey there, lamb-chop.” The chain-smoking ghost greeted with half of her body through Veronica’s window. She then lit her cigarette with a small ball of green fire coming from her thumb.

Veronica frowned in annoyance. “My room is still a no smoking zone, Agatha.”

The elderly looking ghost snorted. “I figured that was no longer enforced after you formed that contract with that demon.”

“An **unwilling** contract signing,” she reminded her.

Agatha waved a dismissive hand. “Tomato tomahto, anyway I came here to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Veronica asked, her body started to tense.

“It’s just a simple favor—”

“The answer’s no,” she said right away.

Agatha gave the living youth a look of dismay. “I didn’t even get to ask what I want.”

“And I know what it already is.” Veronica stood from her desk to stand before the ghost and give her a straight stare. “The reason you’re here is because you found out another clue to how you were murdered and want me to find the evidence for you so you can cross over.”

“Now Veronica—” Agatha began.

“Don’t you ‘Now Veronica’ me. I told you a thousand times that I don’t do the whole helping ghosts with their issues. All of your other leads always turned out to be dead-ends, so I don’t want anything to do with it. And I since… that one time, I made it clear that I don’t want to be bothered by your guys’ problems and you won’t bother me.”

“Kid,” Agatha kvetched, floating over to her. “I really mean it when I say I found the trace I need to prove that the guy who killed me really did it. I know all the other ghosts, Tom included, keep saying, ‘oh it was only rat poison, Aggie.’ ‘Just get over yourself, we’re all dead anyway, it doesn’t matter how.’ Well, it does to me! I hate bein’ stuck in this town no more than the rest of us do. It’s not fair that nobody is willing to hear me out. I know this is all unfair for you, kid. Especially for you, but you’re the only hope I’ve got left.”

After hearing the impromptu reference to _Star Wars_ that Veronica was 95% sure was unintentional, she let out a small sigh. She really couldn’t say no to the dead woman. Agatha has always been looking out for her and was the person who gave her that advice she should’ve taken last week.

“Where’s the lead?” The girl pretended that she didn’t see the elated look on the ghost’s face.

“You know the old brown brick townhouse I used to live in?” Agatha asked her.

“The one that’s now condemned?”

“Ah-huh,” the spirit nodded. “I overheard my son talking to a former employee of mine while I was visiting my old haunt down in Redd’s bar.”

“A metaphorical haunt I’m assuming you’re referring to,” Veronica asked for clarification.

“Yep. Anyway, I heard him telling my old employee, Nancy, that if she knew what was best for her to **not** go anywhere near my old home. Jimmy said it would be dangerous for someone like her to be snoopin’ around there.”

“And you think your son, Jimmy, is your murderer because he warned someone to not go to a building that’s been unsafe to live in for 20 years?” Veronica said flatly.

In a very rare moment Veronica could see Agatha look angry. “I’m not crazy! I know now it was him!” Green wisps of smoke came not just from Agatha’s lit cig, but from her ears and nostrils.

Veronica yelped and recoiled at how frightening her deceased neighbor look. “I’m sorry,” she choked out of anxiety.

Agatha’s anger quickly disappeared and then she frowned in remorse. “Oh, honey, I—I’m sorry. I wasn’t turning, I swear.”

Veronica inhaled deeply and nodded. “I know you weren’t.” If she kept telling herself that it would feel true.

Agatha floated over to the girl, patting her shoulder comfortingly. At least that’s what Veronica assumed was what she was attempting to do since all she could feel was an ice touch on her skin. “I didn’t mean to get angry. I just—" She sighed. “—I really want someone to believe me.”

“Okay,” Veronica said, pushing herself back until she was sitting in her chair again and gave the ghost a serious look. “I won’t make any more jokes at your expense.” She exhaled to remind herself that she was still in a safe place and no one was going to hurt her.

Veronica then took out her journal and pen, ready to take notes. “So, what makes you think that your son is responsible for your death?”

“Well,” Aggie drew a long gulp from her cigarette before blowing out the smoke through Veronica’s open window. “I always knew he wanted more of my money while I was still alive. He usually complained that I wasn’t giving him enough when he already had a job of his own and wasn’t hurting like most other people were years ago during the oil crisis. You and your folks were okay during that too, were you?”

Veronica shrugged. “My dad still had some money left over from his parents after they passed away. It helped while he was in-between jobs, but we were glad when he got work at an office and become a clerk there. Mom still has her part-time job in sales at _K-Mart_ ‘cause she likes the pay and her co-workers.”

Agatha nodded in approval. “I always appreciate a working woman.”

Veronica couldn’t stop the smile that was forming on her lips. “So, what’s the rest of your story?”

  
The ghost frowned. “The night before I died, I had a pretty nasty chat with Jimmy. He was insistent that I gave him more money, which he didn’t need if I might add.”

She inhaled her cigarette until only half of it was left. “He said he’d find a way to make me pay. I didn’t think much of it since I assumed, he was talking about lawyers, and just went about my day afterwards.”

“You didn’t think to report him to the police after he’d threatened you?”

“Times were different back then,” Agatha tried to explain herself. “People didn’t always mean what they said, and I thought the same about Jimmy. He was always too much of a wuss as a boy. I didn’t think he’d fall through with what he was threatening. And like I said before, I thought he was just talking about getting an attorney.”

“Okay, but what about the night you were killed?” Veronica asked to steer the topic back to the previous one. “What new information did you find out that should prove your son was the culprit?”

Veronica’s question helped Aggie sober up. She held a more subdue expression as she recalled the night she passed away. “The next night I was at my newer home, drinking my favorite whiskey, _Old Crow_.”

“I’m more of a brandy girl myself.”

“Ha, that’s a lie and you know it,” the ghost chortled. “Anyway, I was watching a rerun of _Golden Girls_ when I swore, I heard somebody knocking on my door. Now it was well passed 9 when that happened so I first thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. But when I heard it again, I knew something was up, so I left my living room, walked down the hall and went to my front door where I thought the knocking came from. I held a can of pepper spray behind my back, just to be sure it wasn’t some prowler, and opened the door and found… nothing.”

“There was no one there?” the ebony-haired girl frowned, pausing from her writing. _That doesn’t sound suspicious at all._

“I guessed that it was probably the neighborhood kids playing a joke on me. I shouted out into the street threatening to call the police if they tried to pull another fast one on me. I’m pretty sure I was just yelling at empty air by that point. So, then I went back to the living room after that. I sat back on my recliner, grabbed my dog, Toodles, to put him on my lap and poured me a new glass of Old Crow. And then **it** happened.”

Veronica lowered her book and looked straight into Agatha’s eyes. “That was when you died.”

The spirit nodded solemnly.

“Can I—” Veronica caught herself.

“What is it, lamb-chop?”

“I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but could you tell me what it felt like?”

“Dying?”

Veronica bit her lower lip before she reluctantly nodded.

“At first I felt fine until this pain in my stomach developed. It had to have been the rat poison that was taking its toll on me. I tried to go to my phone to call for help but next thing I knew I fell onto my face and onto my shag carpet floor.”

The next question Veronica wanted to ask was something she never asked another undead being before. “What happened when you became a ghost?”

“How it felt or what I did afterwards?”

“...Both.”

“It was like I was weightless, like all the weariness of life had been lifted from my shoulders. I didn’t feel hot, cold or warm or cool again after that… God, I never knew how much I missed feeling Summer and Winter until I died.”

Veronica gave the dead woman a sympathetic look.

“What happened after that was me trying to put together what the Hell had happened. I could still see and hear things, but no one could hear me,” Agatha frowned in sadness. “I even tried touching Toodles, but I don’t think he knew it was me and got scared.”

“I read somewhere that some ghost hunters believe that animals are more in tuned with sensing the supernatural,” Veronica said. It would explain why she never saw her cats in the same room when other ghosts had shown up in the past. Same with JD come to think of it.

Veronica shook her head of her current thoughts and focused on her ghostly friend.

“But what was probably the worst thing had to be Jimmy convincing everyone that I was going to leave my property over to him.”

“Who did you plan to give the salon up to instead of him?”

Agatha’s wrinkly lips formed the first smile Veronica had seen in a long time. “I had planned to pick Nancy. She had been working in the salon with me since I opened it back in ’64. Her daughter, Debbie, had started working there a few years before I died in ’84. I could easily see her taking her mother’s place after Nancy would retire eventually.”

The smile melted into a frown.

“But that didn’t happen because Jimmy made sure I kicked the bucket. After I was buried the bastard sold the lot and it got turned into a goddamned _Supercuts_. I mean, where’s the class?”

“He had the right to do it?”

“As my sole surviving relative? Yes, he did.”

Veronica considered her next question. “So, you didn’t have a will already written out, stating the hair salon would be in Nancy’s possession?”

“I was having in wrapped up with my lawyer when I passed away,” Agatha answered. “I thought I had lost it after I died, but now, now I think Jimmy took it. I’m pretty sure that’s why he didn’t want Nancy anywhere near my hold townhouse.”

“But weren’t you living on this street when you were getting the will written?” Veronica questioned in confusion.

“I still owned it, though. Bought the brown house with my own money after I made a bundle with the salon… and winning that _Publishers Clearing House_ sweepstakes.”

“Oh yeah, I remember hearing my parents mention that one time.” Veronica recalled.

“And now that money is probably being sent over to my no-good son while my dear friend and daughter are probably living in languish thanks to him.”

“So, do you have an idea what the evidence you want me to look for is?”

“My son always liked to keep his receipts of everything. He’d always keep them in the basement of my old home. If he did kill me with rat poison—and I know it was him this time—he’d be keeping the paper in the brown house.”

“And why would he still keep it?”

“I told you, he keeps all of his receipts.”

Veronica frowned skeptically. “Even one that could prove he murdered you?”

“I never said Jimmy was smart,” the ghost of Jimmy Sanderson’s mother said with a sigh. “So, are you willing to help me?”

The black-haired girl’s frown remained on her face as she mulled over what Agatha was asking. On one hand she would be helping to avenge someone who was wrongfully killed for greed. But, on the other hand, there was a very high chance there could be danger involved. However, on the other, other hand Agatha was someone that had helped Veronica before in the past and was there to listen when no one else was. But Veronica could still get into some serious trouble if Jimmy knew someone was on to him…

Veronica planned.

* * *

✬JD✬

A great numbness filled up JD as he was finishing up his thirtieth Slurpee. The slush had done its job in making him forget most of the terrible afternoon he had. It sadly did nothing to disremember what would happen in the future.

_Mr. Pollock’s math test at the end of the week…_ the demon thought bitterly. Yes, that was what he was the most upset with. Not at all about Veronica’s outing at the end of October. No, his heart wasn’t all atwitter over something as trivial as mortal feelings. The demon had standards, dammit. He wasn’t going to let himself be reduced to a—

That was when he felt **it**.

The hairs on JD’s neck stuck out as he found the scents he had been looking for since leaving the school. (At least that was what he was trying to convince himself since arriving at the convenience store.)

JD scanned the area until he found the two smells right outside the shop and prepared to exit.

“Excuse me,” a voice rang out. “Are you going to pay for that?” the cashier behind the counter asked in a condescending manner.

JD sighed before he put a hand inside one of his jacket’s inner pockets. He pulled out a large stack of $2 Federal Reverse Bank Notes with Thomas Jefferson’s face on one side and a battleship on the other.

“Here’s some Dreadnaught notes—ripoff artist”—he muttered under his breath before saying, “Keep the rest of the change.”

The 7-Eleven cashier had a very sober look for the first time that night. “Uh—I hope you have a nice night, buddy?”

“You too,” the demon replied while heading to the doors.

JD made sure his demonic signature was concealed before he exited through the store’s threshold. Once he was outside the demon tasted the air with his forked tongue and found the smells down by the alley closest to the 7-Eleven. His ears picked up the faint whispering from two beings.

“-you sssuspect that she issss near?”

“You’re the one that saw her going on that bus heading for downtown, bladeface.”

“Sssshut it, man-breath, I wasss only asssking a quessstion.”

_Bladeface and Man-breath?_ Those were slurs he had heard used plenty of times back down Below. He moved further inside the alley for a closer look to see what he was dealing with.

In the alley were two very bizarre and ugly creatures. Even more hideous than the green imp from the other night. One was a three-foot-tall person in ratty clothes with scorch marks everywhere. Aside from the outfit everything else seemed like the normal appearance of a miniature human if it weren’t for the giant ax for a head. Every time JD watched the ax-demon speak the middle of his blade opened to reveal a slit filled with needle-like teeth. He was the one who also stretched out his ‘s’ when he talked.

The demon next to him resembled a bipedal lion if he had a scorpion tail replace the regular one, a blood-red mane dripping with actual blood, a pair of black wings that matched a condor’s, and the face of a repugnant human with a thin mouth filled with nothing but teeth.

_Shit,_ JD thought in realization.

Those species of demons were regularly under his **father’s** employment. Oh, now he really had to kill them.

“We better have no lost the Medium,” the manticore groused.

JD initial fears disappeared after hearing that and decided it was time to make his presence known.

“That wouldn’t be such a great idea,” JD said before stepped into the alley, blocking the two demons’ entrance.

Ax-face and the manticore exchanged looks before laughing uproariously. “Why should we be afraid of a measly little human like you?”

JD smirked at the two dumbasses. “Who said I was a ‘measly little human’?”

In seconds JD shifted to his demonic form, spreading out his wings and tail with ease as his antlers grew twice the size of a normal deer.

“A Cambion?” the ax questioned. “They aren’t ssstrong enough to make it through the barrier on their own.”

“What an acute observation,” JD said, sounding rather impressed.

The manticore wasn’t as impressed as the ax-demon appeared to be and demanded to know where JD’s master was. Surely some higher-rank demon had to be the one responsible for letting a frail-looking half-breed like him enter the Mortal Plain.

“Wow, you give two fustilugs low-level ranks and suddenly they act like they’re noblemen,” JD said after giving out a whistle.

The manticore snarled angrily, “I won’t stand around and listen to a fucker like you speak to me that way!” He ducked his head to aim his tail at JD. The beast’s tail shot out a stinger that moved faster than any mortal projectile.

JD easily blocked the incoming spike with his wings only to wince at the venom. He looked down to see a couple of his black feathers have fallen off.

“Do you have any idea how long it takes for those feathers to grow back, asshole?” JD barked. Now he was mad.

The demon allowed his form to shift even further until his entire monstrous form was on full display. He let out an animalistic roar that shook the windows on the building next to the 7-Eleven.

“I don’t think he’sss jussst a Cambion,” the ax said as his realization visibly sunk in.

The manticore had a better time hiding his fear by cockily smiling. “It’ll take more than turning into your truest form to frighten me. I was fighting creatures twice your size while Troy fell.”

“Then you’re going to be in for a big surprise,” JD said while opening his maw, letting out a tremendous amount of Hellfire to flood out.

The two demons only had five seconds to react before JD charged right at them.

They never stood a chance.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Veronica had no idea what she was doing here. The boarded-up walls of the townhouse were an obvious sign that no one had been inside in years. What was Agatha thinking? Did she really think her son put a receipt or a will inside such a decrepit building?

_Why can’t I just go the police for this? Oh, right because my source came from a ghost and I’m totally sure they’ll believe that._ Veronica sighed with a shake of her head.

This was a terrible idea…

_But I made a promise and I’m not going to turn my back on another friend. Not again._ she thought while pulling out the key to the building that Agatha helped her find prior to coming to the brown house.

Veronica took a deep breath and walked forward.

**End of Chapter 14**

* * *

**QA:** I would say that JD was acting like a bit of a diva after he lost his feathers, but I have been stung by scorpions in the past and they hurt like a b*tch. Granted, I also cry when I accidently nudge my arm against a wall and still end up bruising, so….? *Shrugs *

And oh, Veronica? Doesn’t she know going into a creepy house is a bad idea by this point? She should really learn to not be peer pressured so easily. I guess that’ll be a character arc for her to learn in the story. ;)

Anyway, the next chapter will be focusing on Veronica’s spooky trip through the abandoned house. Does anyone have a guess on what she’ll really find in there?

References:

I picked JD using $2 bills as the most obscure thing for him to carry about without making it obvious.

* fustilug is used to describe an ‘ill-natured’ looking person. The website I found it on compared it to ‘resting b*tchface’. XD

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	16. "Ereht si ,em ta yrgna teg ot uoy rof nosaer on s’ereht"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gets hurt. More ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning of unpleasant and scary imagery ahead.

✬JD✬

_Well, those two demons could’ve easily given those two humans a run for their money in the intelligence department,_ JD’s more civilized thoughts replaced his more beastly ones as he shifted out of his animalistic form. Then he did the best he could with dusting off his coat with his hands. The demon frowned unhappily after he rediscovered the new holes on the jacket.  
  


The ax-demon and manticore were a bit harder to overcome than the incubus had been, but that was mostly due to them fighting back. The demon had been inflicted with more cuts on his arms, cutting through the jacket like it was paper (which led to the ax-demon’s blade being melted off from a furious JD). The manticore was the harder opponent for JD. He lasted far longer than bladeface and succeeded in stabbing him with another barb into the younger demon. The amount inside would’ve been enough to paralyze a baby elephant. Thankfully, demon biology wasn’t the same as an Earthly mammal. Being injected with two doses of venom only threw off JD’s fighting and made half of his body numb. The numbness ended up being a benefit in the end as JD didn’t feel any pain from when the manticore tried to rip his face off with his teeth. JD managed to kill the monster by stabbing him with his antlers and took pleasure at seeing him slowly fade away into ash.

JD had to admit that was an interesting fight. Though he wished it didn’t cost him his coat from getting ripped. Well, at least there was a simple solution to fixing it.

“ **Cirbaf ym dnem** ,” he said, uttering one of the first spells he ever mastered at a young age. Slowly the ripped holes along the sleeves and front were restored. The black stitching moved in place as though an imaginary sowing machine was in operation.

JD felt a lot more comfortable with the trench coat back to its original glory. It was almost worth the amount of energy it took to fix it, and that didn’t even include the energy he used for his previous transformation. The demon had mixed feelings over realizing that he was going to need to see Veronica again to get his strength back. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to see her after that afternoon.

_But she could still be in danger if there are other demons around,_ JD remembered. He also recalled that the now dead demons mention that she had taken a bus earlier. The demon wasn’t sure for what purpose, but he intended to find out.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Veronica was _so_ lucky to find out that the townhouse was just as creepy on the inside as it was out. Despite the building had only been abandoned for little over three decades it was severely battered. The wallpaper was yellowed and peeling off. The floor had enough holes for multiple games of _Whack-a-Mole_ to be played and she was half-convinced that there must be insects scurrying around her feet.

_Why am I under the suspicion that this building was already condemned when Agatha bought it?_ It would explain why the price must’ve been cheap back in the day. Veronica was oh-so very tempted to just speculate all night but resolved to find the door to the basement and look down there.

“Are you sure it’s down this hallway?” Veronica asked the air. Through the shadows the ghost of an maid wearing early 20th Century clothes nodded.

“The old cellar that you seek, miss, is down through that corridor,” she spoke with a Mid-Atlantic accent.

“Thank you, Savannah.” Veronica said before she started to walk.

“But I must advise you to not go down there,” the maid warned.

“Why?” the ebony-haired girl asked, her feelings of regretting to go on this quick trip coming back in full force.

“There is something… **dark** down beneath the floorboards, miss. Something very dark indeed.”

“Okay, I’m trying to be polite here but that doesn’t really give me a good description of what constitutes as dark,” Veronica said to the frightened spirit.

Savannah’s ghost flickered in and out like a candle’s flame threatening to extinguish. “I can’t stay this close any longer, miss.”

Veronica held a look of worry. “Wait, what about the dark thing?” She tried to reach out to the ghost, but she was floating further away from the living person.

“I can’t stay…” was all Savannah said before fading back into the darkness.

“Thank you,” Veronica said sarcastically. “You were extremely helpful.”

She sighed before continuing the rest of the way. Luckily for her she had brought a flashlight as a precaution and started to use it to brighten her way. The hallway Veronica walked through felt long and narrow. Agatha told her that the stairs to the basement would be at the very end of the hall. She arrived at the door and carefully pressed her hand against the door just to be sure that Jimmy or someone else wasn’t in there. After waiting for a full minute and hearing nothing on the other end Veronica placed her hand on the door handle and wriggled it. To her surprise the door was unlocked, and she opened it without any difficulty.

Complete darkness was what greeted Veronica as she ventured into the basement. The stairs she used were made from concrete so while she didn’t hear anything creak with each step she took, the black-haired girl still noticed the sound of her shoes clacking against the stone. Yet somehow that made it feel extra creepy.

_I wish the electricity was still working in this building,_ Veronica thought forlornly. _‘Bet it would make this place ten times less scary than it already is._

Veronica reached the bottom of the stairs to find herself in a large room full of musty boxes, severely dated newspapers stacked on top of one another, among other long forgotten items no one was truly missing.

_Okay,_ Veronica lifted her flashlight so it was at her chest level and moved it around to look at everything, _if I was a receipt or a will where would I be hiding?_

_In a box?_ Veronica opened the first box she could find and filed through what she could see only to find nothing. She repeated the same process until she looked through every box and found not a single hint of a rat poison receipt or a will.

_The newspapers?_ Her next attempt was combing through the newspaper clippings, believing that Jimmy must have filed the papers in-between the other paper. She had to use both hands to pull out all the papers and was only left with a mess on the floor.

Veronica repeated the process a dozen times before she got antsy.

“Where is it?” she asked aloud, almost ready to call it quits when her flashlight landed on one spot she hadn’t noticed.

Over at one corner was a rolltop desk. It was too obvious of a spot to put one’s papers that they’re trying to keep from being found…. But it was the last place Veronica had yet to look and after seeing how late it was getting on her Swatch she was running out of time. With a sigh the girl walked over to the desk, ready to open it up and find what secrets were hidden within its contents.

If only she had decided to give up after looking through the boxes and paper.

Right when Veronica barely placed the pad of her finger on the desk’s wood a hard force violently shoved her out of the way. Luckily for Veronica she landed on some of the softer cardboard boxes instead of the hard floor. As she recomposed herself a horrible raucous voice seeped in the basement. Veronica had to cover her ears as the wailing grew louder. She turned her head after noticing the desk starting to move on its own. The black-haired girl tried to get up in order to run but found herself pushed into the box once more. The desk ceased shaking before the rolltop cover opened abruptly.

Out from the breech came a sickly green looking specter. He had bright red blotches on his cheeks with blackened limbs over other parts of his skin. His eyes were a pure white with no colored irises or pupils to speak of. The only other color that was found happened to be his dark hair that stuck to his skull from an invisible form of ghostly sweat. Every time he opened his mouth Veronica could hear a cough in-between his moans. It would have been funny if Veronica didn’t feel so terrified at that moment.

_A Spanish Flu victim?_ she thought in realization. Veronica did know enough of her town’s history to remember that the 1918 Influenza reached all the way to Sherwood and almost took out half of its population. She also recalled how some of the buildings around town were turned into makeshift hospices during the epidemic. Most of them would later become provisional morgues when a vaccine wasn’t found as soon as people hoped. Veronica had a feeling the townhouse she was probably old enough to have been either place over 70 years ago.

“Wait,” she raised up a hand to the ghost, hoping he wasn’t too far to listen. The ghost paused his gait and somewhat tilted his head, seemingly listening to her.

Veronica swallowed as she tried to regulate her breathing. “Yeah, uh, hi.” she greeted weakly. “I’m Veronica. You might’ve heard of me. I can see dead people like you. I’m really sorry about coming down here. Didn’t know it was still occupied by someone. There’s no reason for you to get angry at me, is there?”

The ghost stood there as though he was taking her in. Veronica started to wonder if this would turn out okay after all. That this wouldn’t be like the dairy far—

Without warning the sickly-looking ghost threw his arm at her. He didn’t touch her, but he succeeded in using his abilities to shove her into a wall, causing her to drop her flashlight in the process. Veronica felt her eyes roll in the back of her head while recovering from the pain. She was happy to not feel any blood on her head, but that relief soon disappeared after remembering the fact that she was still trapped in a room with a deranged spirit.

_Okay Veronica, you’re in a basement with a very angry spirit. You need to leave before something worse happens,_ the black-haired girl looked back up to the stairs and decided just to make a run for it and hope the ghost wouldn’t follow her.

The ghost wasn’t going to wait for Veronica to get up, however. He hollowed out before he flew towards her with his hands stretched out, aiming at her face. Veronica was able to duck in time for the ghost to phase through the wall before she struggled to stand up and limped forward to reach the stairs.

_C’mon stupid leg. I’m almost there._

Veronica was less than five feet away from the first step when she was dragged down by her bad leg. She cried out from the pain with tears falling from her face. The poltergeist acted like a demented mime by pulling on an imaginary rope and giving Veronica the most terrifying look, she had seen on a ghost in years. Veronica was far too frozen with fear to attempt running away again. The ailing spirit was slowly making his way over to her with a glazed look in his eyes.

For a second Veronica was hoping her parents would get worried enough to call for the police but then remembered that she lied about going over to one of the Heather’s for a homework assignment.

_This is it,_ she thought despairingly. _I’m fucked._ Veronica shut her eyes tight, waiting for the grizzly death that she was sure to happen.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” another voice yelled from out of nowhere.

_Agatha? Or Tom?_ Veronica thought at first until recalling the unwritten restriction that prevented ghosts from straying too far from where they died. She was almost at the other end of town. Aggie and Thomas wouldn’t be able to find her in the townhouse even if they wanted to.

When Veronica heard the voice again, she angled her head up to look at the direction of where it was coming from and gasped.

At the top of the stairs stood JD, only he didn’t really look like himself. He looked like his mortal disguise and demonic form were split perfectly in half on his body. One side of his face was covered in his thin black fur while the other was his paler human self. He also had only one antler that stuck out above the same part his fur appeared. The only things that matched equally were his eyes (brown with the red sclera) and fanged teeth.

While Veronica recoiled slightly after taking in the demon’s scary appearance the ghost was less put off and tried to yell at him, waving his arm at him.

JD used his demonic hand’s claws to latch on to the wall and willed himself to overcome the angry specter’s power. “It’s going to take more than that to knock me down, you poltergeist.”

The ghost shouted defiantly at JD and attempted to go after Veronica again. Though how he expected to do that without being able to touch her was something she wasn’t even sure about.

“I already told you to back off!” JD shouted again, though not nearly as angry as before. He lifted his demonic hand free from the wall, leaving five noticeable holes in its place. With inhuman speed JD rushed over to where the ghost floated and grasped him with his hands. The spirit tried to escape, but much to his and Veronica’s surprise he couldn’t.

“Veronica,” JD spoke to her for the first time since he arrived. He didn’t look at her while he talked as his eyes were fixated on the poltergeist. “I’m only going to ask this once, but will you let me take this spirit’s essence?”

“What?” Veronica gaped in confusion.

“It’s the only way that I can get rid of it for you and make sure it doesn’t harm anyone again.”

Veronica was conflicted. “But there must be another way.”

“There **is** no other way. Unlike regular ghosts who still possess some semblance of sanity, poltergeists don’t. They have the instincts of a rabid beast that needs to be put out of its misery.” As JD talked the ghost in his hands struggled about while wailing.

The screams were so loud Veronica had to cover her head with her ears once more. “Okay, okay, do it!” she said in defeat. “You have my permission, or whatever, just please make him stop yelling.”

“You might want to cover your eyes while you’re at it,” the demon said at once.

Veronica looked up at the worst possible time and shrieked in horror at seeing JD with an unhinged jaw sucking the poltergeist into his mouth as though he were a living vacuum cleaner.

“What the fuck?” she said before shielding her eyes for real. Veronica grimaced as she heard the slurping noises JD made while he was eating the soul of the spirit.

“I told you to cover your eyes,” JD pointed out after he finished his… meal. His human form fully returned.

“How was I supposed to know you were going to turn into a stop-motion puppet from a _Tim Burton_ movie?”

“Can’t you at least have the decency to say, ‘Gee, JD, thank you so much for going out of your way to rescue me from the killer ghost’” the demon said, pretending to sound like a woman in the most terrible way possible.

The two stared at one another, their looks hardening to glares.

“JD—”

“—We are going to have more words after we get out of this house,” JD promised, his expression was stony.

That made Veronica feel a little less relieved than she thought she would after be getting saved from a deranged ghost. She was able to stand on her own and get up in-spite of the injured leg. Veronica followed JD up the stairs without another word. She wasn’t at all sorry for not being able to find the papers Agatha wanted her to look for.

* * *

✬JD✬

To say that JD was in a bad mood was an understatement.

“What the down Below were you thinking?” was the first words JD said to Veronica as soon as they got out of the building.

“I was,” she started to say before restarting her sentence and claimed that one of the Heathers told her to go inside.

JD was having none of that and said, “Don’t lie to me. It had something to do with your little ghost friends, didn’t it?”

Veronica gave JD a wide-eyed look. “How do you know about the ghosts?”

“Because they came to my room the first night, I moved into the Dean House,” JD explained. “They told me you can see and hear any ghosts you come in contact with.”

The human opened and closed her mouth twice before shaking her head in shock. “Why would they tell you that?”

JD didn’t want to tell his Contractor about the demons that had targeted her so she wouldn’t get worried. Instead, he went with, “I guess they were intimidated by me. I am a pretty powerful demon, after all.”

“Who can still get whacked by a croquet mallet,” Veronica snidely remarked as they made their way to the bus stop. As Veronica sat herself on the vacant bench, she held a very proud look on her face.

The demon fought back a scowl while he leaned against the bus stop sign. “What you did back there was idiotic.” He looked back at her with a strong look of disappointment. “A human should never face a ghost by themselves. You should’ve had me here, or I guess, if you were desperate enough, could have gone and find yourself a Witch.”

“A witch?” Veronica repeated. “Like a literal Wicked Witch type of person?”

“If you’re referring to the _Frank L. Baum_ books, I’m afraid you’re a little off.”

“I was actually referring to the movie, but fine. The book series is good, too. But seriously, witches are real?”

“Yep,” JD said, popping the ‘p’. “And that’s Witch with a capital ‘W’, by the way.”

“Okay, so ghosts, demons and now Witches are things that are now a part of my reality.” she said with resign in her voice.

“Actually, there’s also fairies, unicorns, dragons, djinn, trolls and platypuses,” JD corrected while counting off the magical creatures with his fingers.

Veronica shook her head. “Wait, platypuses?”

“Oh yeah, you don’t really think the Man Upstairs was responsible for **those** were you?” JD smiled briefly. “They originally came from down Below before they were banished up to Earth. Even the Boss couldn’t stand how weird they look.”

He noticed the girl scrunch up her face while taking in this new information.

“You also could’ve brought a platypus with you when you were going to face that poltergeist,” JD said, bringing the previous conversation as his angered mood from earlier returned. “I still can’t believe you thought facing one on your own was such a good idea.”

“I didn’t know you knew about my abilities,” she tried to reason with.

JD rolled his eyes. “And the reason you didn’t tell me about your powers in the first place is because...?”

“Because every other time you found out something about me you always find some way to use it against me,” Veronica said, giving her a displeased stare.

The demon frowned when he couldn’t find something to contradict her. She was correct, he did take advantage of her many times since arriving on the Mortal Plain. “I wouldn’t have stopped you from getting rid of the poltergeist if that’s what you wanted. I would’ve been more than happy to remove one less monster in this world.”

“So, the ghost is really gone?”

The demon frowned with no remorse. He didn’t understand why she sounded so sad about a monster that was trying to kill her and yet she showed no sorrow for him. He pushed away those unwanted thoughts before he continued.

“It was already gone. Veronica, that was a poltergeist. They aren’t the same as all those little friendly ghost pals of yours. They are the spirts of people who died in the most terrible ways you don’t want to imagine and still carry that pain after becoming a ghost. There is no reasoning with their kind. Why were you down there anyway?” he asked after giving her a curious expression.

Veronica sighed before answering. She told JD that a ghost named Agatha Sanders asked her to go to her former-former home to find proof that was needed to show the town that her living son had murdered her. After hearing the whole story, the demon gave her one flat look and stated, 

“You know, you should really learn to say no.”

“Agatha’s my friend,” Veronica said defensively.

“If she was your real friend, she would’ve known how uncomfortable you were feeling with the mission.”

Veronica didn’t seem to like how accurate JD’s words were, turned around and gave the demon a displeased stare. “Why should I listen to you, huh? The only friend you have is a rodent!”

JD took a step forward, staring straight at Veronica with a venomous glare. “That’s one more real friend than you have!”

As soon as he saw Veronica’s eyes widened and her mouth started to gape the demon realized that he made a horrible mistake.

“Veronica, I—”

She raised a hand, signaling him to shut up. “Don’t talk to me. I don’t want you to ever talk to me ever again.”

JD’s face turned apologetic. “No, I didn’t mean—”

“Stop!” she shouted. “Just stop. JD, I am so done with this,” she vaguely gestured to herself and then to him before shaking her head. “I don’t care what the fuck you’ll do for now on. If you want to go mess with other humans, that’s fine by me, but I don’t want you to come near me until I’m actually dead.”

The demon started to panic. “Veronica, I can’t get my energy from anyone else but you. If I don’t, I’ll wither away until I’m forced to go back down Below to replenish myself. That means you’d have to come with me because our life forces are tied to one another.”

“Good,” Veronica replied darkly. “If that means I have to go to Hell along with you maybe I do belong there. It’s like you said before. I’ve never been able to say no. I couldn’t say no to Agatha, I couldn’t say no when you forced me to kiss you, I couldn’t even tell the Heathers to stop hurting my best friend. She’d still be… Martha would still be here if it weren’t for me.”

“Martha?”

“Forget it,” Veronica said dismissively. “I don’t want to talk with you anymore.”

As if on cue the bus arrived. Veronica and the demon waited for the people inside to get off before they started to climb in. At least JD was until Veronica held a hand up and told him not to join her.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to spend another second with you,” she replied coldly.

“You’re really acting like a bitch, you know that?” The sassy, charming girl that he was ~~falling f~~ getting interested in was now replaced with a hostile version of her.

“Takes one to know one, huh?” Veronica countered, giving him a clear look of indifference. “Guess that would explain why I don’t have any real friends, right JD?”

JD did and said nothing as he watched Veronica go into the bus and sat in a seat by the window. He merely shrugged at the driver when the human gave him an expectant look on whether he was going to hop on. The demon took a note on how she was purposely not looking at his direction as the bus drove away. JD stood there for another minute before checking to see if the coast was clear and used to wings to fly up. Being up in the autumn air felt welcoming after everything that happened, even if he could barely feel it thanks to being part-demon.

JD thought he had all the answers when he first arrived on Earth, but now? Now he felt more alienated and confused than ever before. All he really knew was that things were not at all going the way he expected them to. JD had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before something worse than an angry ghost would face them. And he was worried if it would take more than a kiss to heal from that.

If he would even survive for that long, that is.

**End of Chapter 15**

* * *

**Q-A:** How’s that for some drama? I had to give the two a big argument at one point in the story and this felt like a good boiling point moment for me. And yes Veronica did act really upset at the end because the whole lack of true friends thing is a very sore subject that JD (and you readers) will learn about in due time. But don’t worry, things will get better… before they get far worse. 😈

Anyway, I won’t be telling you what’s in store in the next chapter. I want to leave it as a surprise.

References:

The whole banished platypus joke is a reference to the Disney Channel series, _The Owl House_ where in that all the magical creatures from its setting the Boiling Isles sometimes end up on Earth by mistake. Except for giraffes as they were banished for being a bunch of freaks, according to one character. XD

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	17. “Snaem ti tahw snaem ti”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things ‘could’ be going better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Graphic imagery ahead.

Lilith Dean ran fast as a considerably wounded woman could while holding a child. In her arms her son let out a small whimper as the screams from their former neighbors grew closer. She tried consoling the boy with small little cooing words of encouragement, but they were not enough.

“Little Hart,” the mother said, using the special nickname she had for her son.

Immediately he perked up after hearing the moniker, looking a little less frightened, much to his mother’s relief.

“I’m going to put you someplace hidden,” she said as she ran closer to the thick forest near their village. Despite the injury and added weight from the hastily put together bag of supplies Lilith managed to find the spot she was looking for and laid her son there. The thorn bush was large and almost impossible for a grown man or woman to climb into, but not for a boy no older than five.

“I need you to stay here,” she instructed to her child. “I need you to keep quiet and wait long after you no longer hear the mob.”

“Why?” the brown-haired boy asked innocently.

“They are looking for us, you specifically, and will stop at nothing until they find us,” she tried to explain.

The little child frowned and then looked down. “Are you in trouble because of me?”

Lilith knelt and smiled pitifully at her child. “No, my dear one. None of this is your fault. Your father is the one to blame for all of this. If he hadn’t… Well, I suppose there is one good thing that came from all of this.” Her smile held a bit more warmth as she stretched her arm out to pat his hair.

“Where is the witch?” a nearby voice yelled.

“I saw the whore come down this way,” another one chimed in, this one female.

_Fiona?_ Lilith thought in recognition before biting back a curse. If anyone was the real harlot, it was that black-hearted coxcomb.

She pulled up her skirt and held a look of determination before looking down on her son. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you as long as I live.”

Young Jason Dean frowned, appearing as though he didn’t truly understand his mother.

Lilith tried to best to muster a sweeter smile before saying what might be her final farewell with her child.

“There she is!” A pair of rough hands grabbed Lilith by her shoulders, forcibly pulling her away from Jason.

“No!” she cried out right as another man came into her view and unkindly picked up her son. He held the toddler so inhumanely that tears started to well up in his eyes.

Lilith and Jason were then dragged into the middle of a circle made up of the male villagers and a few women present. They were pushed to their knees while two men made an opening to allow the local bishop through.”

“Please Father Mathew,” Lilith begged through tears. “My son and I have always been devout followers to the Lord. Neither of us would dare practice witchcraft.” Both of which were true, but the religious elder refused to listen. He began to list all the grievances the villagers had against the two, the monk even went on to reveal all the supposed crimes they committed against the Almighty.

“—which leaves us with no other choice than to execute the spawn of Lucifer and deal with the witch we have done with others in the past.”

Images of poor men and women burning alive flashed through Lilith’s mind. “No, please don’t! I beg of you. I’ll do anything, please spare my son and me!”

Father Mathew no longer had that warm comforting expression Lilith once saw every day she passed by the church while going to work as a seamstress. He stared at her with cold apathy. “You are no longer worthy to bask in the light of the Lord, heathen.”

“You are right about that,” a new voice spoke up.

All eyes turned to look over at the field where the sound came from. In the tall field of wheat stood a man whose waistline was barely over the top of the seedlings, but still looked imposing. He wore clothing fit for a nobleman made entirely out of black and red cloth. Nothing about him seemed alarming, but as soon as Lilith heard the tone in that voice and saw the way the man held himself, she knew she and Jason were in great danger.

“You must run,” the woman said to her fellow humans. “Run back to your homes to find your loved ones and flee before it’s too late.”

One of the farmers scowled at Lilith and kicked her in the face with his shoe. “Silence, puterelle!”

“Please,” she tried to warn them again. “He only wants me; you must try to—”

Her words fell on deaf ears. No one was willing to listen to her as some of the men picked up their pitchforks and scythes, brandishing them to look intimidating towards the stranger.

Lilith could only hang her head in despair as a couple of them went over to confront the man.

They never stood a chance.

Lilith had a second of time to grab her son and placed his face over her chest and then covered his ears. He was far too young to witness the horrors that were about to commence. Right as the men approached the man in the field, he snapped his fingers and out from the ground were an unkindness of black bird-demons. They flew straight at the humans, using their sharp beaks to slice their arms, legs and decapitate their heads with unflawed precision. Lilith gasped in fright at seeing the men she once saw as her friends be killed in swift succession. She and Jason were soon abandoned by the other villagers, running for their lives in a weak attempt to survive. She held her son a little more tightly even after all the screaming ended. Once the woman heard the ambience of nature, she lifted her head to see **him** there, standing before her.

“And here I thought I was going to need to look hard to find you,” the man said, not sounding at all discouraged at the fact that he sent a small legion of demons to devour all of Lilith’s neighbors.

The man in black titled his head while frowning at Lilith’s unhappy expression. “Why is thou mad, my little Lilith? I just got rid of those nasty vermin that were about to burn you at the stake.”

“Those men still had families, children who will now become orphans thanks to you.” she reproached, glaring venomously at him with all the hate she still had in her bones.

The man held a look of indifference before he smiled. “Not anymore since I also instructed them to burn the village down and kill all the witnesses.”

“No,” Lilith gasped in horror. “You shouldn’t even be here. It’s forbidden.”

“I’m using the same trick that allowed me to fill you with my seed, Lilith. Speaking of which, is that him? The runt clinging to your leg.”

“Mummy?” Jason looked up to his mother with watery eyes. Lilith moved her hand to touch him comfortably only for a hand to clutch her wrist. The hand belonging to her husband pulled her to him, giving her an arrogant grin. She threw him a glare in response.

The shadowy man sneered. “What in all Seven Levels of Hell did you do to my spawn?” He motioned to Jason whose eyes were tearing up again. “Look at how he cowers and whimpers like a simpering weakling.”

“He is but only a child,” Lilith tried to defend before grimacing from the pressure he put on her arm with his hand.

Her husband’s scowl deepened. “That is no excuse. I can no longer be the lowest member of the Lords. If they find out all I have to offer as my heir is a spineless cumberworld They’ll never take me seriously.”

Lilith struggled immensely against his grip. Her cheek earned her a strike from the demon. He slashed her face with a claw, drawing blood. She yelled out in pain, raising a hand over her wound. Lilith couldn’t help but tremble as the demon lord started to tower over her.

“I should’ve known letting you live long enough to have him was a terrible idea,” he said as parts of his host’s body started to peel, showing the raw flesh underneath.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Both adults turned to see Jason giving his father an enraged stare. Lilith watched in astonishment as her son changed far more into a demon than in his other transformations in the past. What she saw terrified her, but her husband held the opposite expression.

“My, my, my,” the possessed human replied. The smile he drew on his face reminded Lilith of her old housecat when it had caught a mouse.

“Perhaps you are not a weak little yaldson as I originally perceived.” the man said, approaching the Cambion. Lilith watched as he used a spell to revert their son back into his more human form before picking him up.

“No, don’t,” she tried to beg only to get kicked in the abdomen by her ex-lover.

The demon glared at her. “How dare you hide my son from me, wench. After everything I did for you, this is how you thank me?”

Lilith mirrored his look of discontent perfectly as she picked herself up. “You left me alone, pregnant, forced to fend for myself after my parents disowned me for my supposed adultery. You lied when you had promised you would give me a life filled with power and riches if I gave you a son.”

“I left because you refused to come join me in my domain,” the demon had the nerve to sound hurt as he defended himself.

“Hell is no place for a woman and child. Can’t you see that?”

Her husband smirked. “I don’t see a woman and child in my company. Instead, I find myself with a Cambion and Medium. Both with so much power waiting to be molded.” His smiled widened, revealing teeth sharper and pointier than a hunter’s best arrowheads. The transformed teeth caused the human host’s gums to bleed as soon as every pore in his body. “We must be off. This flesh I’ve acquired can no longer sustain my soul that’s threatening to break out. And I’m not allowed to be on this physical plane… Not yet that is.” The demon let out a cackle as it and his horrifying appearance caused Jason to cry. His father snarled at the boy, demanding he ceased his tears as they will serve no place where the three are going.

Lilith could do nothing as her world crumbled around her, leaving only smoke and devastation to replace it.

* * *

✬JD✬

The demon shot out from his couch after seeing the vision. His face had a cold layer of sweat sticking to his skin, which shouldn’t even be possible for his body to do. JD sighed while raking his fingers through his hair.

Why did he have that dream? More importantly, how the down Below could he possibly be dreaming? Demons aren’t supposed to need sleep. Granted, being part human meant he carried some of their weaker traits. Such as needing sustenance more often, less of a fast-acting healing factor, needing to rest at all and sometimes needing a charm to keep his human appearance in check.

_Maybe I do need Veronica’s essence more than I thought,_ the demon rationalized.

It had been weeks since he last spoke with the girl. Attempts were made where he tried to speak with her discreetly in and out of school, but Veronica shirked away from him every time. She made sure to show that she was now always carrying her racquet around, keeping in her bedroom while at home or inside her locket at Westerberg. It was starting to tick him off.

School itself prove to be a bit of a chore with having to relearn all the history America had been through, which JD found hilarious at how ensured the teachers were at thinking they knew more than he did. Granted, he hadn’t been on the Mortal Plain in 70 years, but he still knew that it was Alexander Hamilton who founded the _New York Post_ , not Robert Troup as his U.S. History teacher erroneously declared. And anyone who wasn’t a homophobic twat would be willing to admit that Hamilton had to at least been interested in both woman AND men with how close he was to his old war chum John Laurens. 

Best friends, my ass, was what the demon had eloquently told the teacher after complaining to him about getting both facts wrong.

That whole incident earned JD one after-school detention, which he didn’t necessarily care about. What annoyed him was how everyone started to ostracize him for ‘defending the gays’ and Kurt and Ram got on his case again. It led to another brawl (this time outside) where JD didn’t lay a single punch as before and watched in mild pleasure at seeing the previous actions repeat in front of him. That at least stopped people from bothering him for a couple of days, including the jocks who were forced to do more laps after school, much to JD’s amusement. Sadly, it was still not enough to distract him from Veronica’s distancing from him. JD did what he could to keep a close eye on her, however. Call it stalking, or—fuck it, it’s stalking, JD wasn’t going to deny that anytime soon—he would either make himself invisible or send Snowball to spy on Veronica when he was forced to be away from her. From what he had seen and heard Veronica had been spending more time with the Heathers again, acting like their servant and doing what little chores they wanted her to do. He did take notice of one human that tried to approach Veronica a few times. Not a male (thankfully) but a mousy-looking girl with large glasses and oversized sweaters. JD noted that this mortal was the only person besides him who go to see the **real** Veronica. The one who didn’t act meek around the Heathers and wasn’t afraid to draw out sarcastic quips when sharing small talk. She also smiled a lot more when the other girl was around.

_At lot more than she ever did with me._ JD reflected with a frown. _But she had stopped once she found out what I really was._

Unfortunately for the girl with the glasses when the weeks drew closer to October, she (and to an extent, JD) saw less of Veronica as the Heathers dragged her around the school and more updated development of town. According to Snowball, the alpha Heather was spending her time grooming Veronica to get ready for their little outing on Halloween.

JD felt his insides curdle when he heard the news for the first time. It was almost as bad as when he first heard the redhead tell Veronica about the university party, she invited her to.

_Not to mention what she has planned for Veronica,_ JD decided that he had to do something about it until he recalled that the raven-haired didn’t want to hear him out on anything.

What he needed was some inside help. Someone who he knew that could try to talk some sense into Veronica.

It took JD a full minute of pacing before he realized the answer, he was seeking was right outside the Victorian. And he genuinely meant outside. He held back a grimace once he knew what he had to do. After night fell on that very last day of September, JD walked out of his house and stepped onto the sidewalk. There was no one else out on the cold Autumn evening when he called out, “HEY! I’m looking for Agnes and Timmy or whatever the down Below your names are.”

JD waited for a few minutes before the two transparent forms of a pair of familiar ghosts appeared.

“It’s Agatha and Thomas, ass.” the female spirit corrected in her crotchety manner. 

JD smirked. “Still got your attention, didn’t I?”

The ghost’s glare only expanded in response while her partner tried to make himself look smaller. “What do you want?”

“Not showing much fear around me anymore, are you.” JD noted while pretending to hide the fact that he was impressed.

“How can we after seeing Veronica hit you on the head with that oversized hammer of hers,” the elderly looking spook teased.

“You saw that?” the demon asked in surprise.

Agatha grinned with mirth. “All the ghosts on this street heard you crying like a little girl after she whacked you.” The spirit let out an uproarious chortle that eventually ceased after she fell into a coughing fit.

“How are you choking? You don’t have any lungs,” JD pointed out.

Agatha sighed before straightening herself. “You’d be surprised what spirits carry on with after they pass away. Tommy here still acts lightheaded from all the blood he lost despite the fact he’s been dead for over a hundred years now.”

The solider frowned at her with disproval. “Why would you tell him that?” he whined.

“Lamb-chop told me about the contract and said he can’t eat any spirits without her permission,” she revealed, pointing at the demon at the same time.

“Lamb-chop?” JD muttered before he put two and two together. “You mean Veronica?”

“Who else would I mean? Jackie Kennedy?” the ghost asked mockingly.

“Look, I don’t want to eat you two—I think I might get lung cancer if I took your essence—” he said that last part to himself. “I actually wanted to talk about Veronica.”

“What about her?” the female spirit asked.

JD took a deep breath before he continued, feeling very humiliated that he was going to stoop this low. “I want you to help me talk to her again.”

Thomas was cowering less after hearing the demon’s inquiry and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Is she no longer speaking with you?”

“She and I had an argument a few weeks back,” JD revealed, with heavy foot-dragging. “We both said some things we can’t really take back, but I need to speak with her about something important.”

Agatha spared the demon one hard look before glancing at Thomas and sharing a stare with him. They both nodded and she said, “We aren’t gonna help you.”

JD blinked, feeling dumbfounded. “What do you mean you won’t help me?” he asked incredulously.

Agatha frowned. “It means what it means. We aren’t gonna help some demon like you.”

“Wow,” the demon snorted. “That doesn’t sound prejudice.”

“Oh, give me a big fucking break,” Agatha swore. “All you’ve done since coming here was cause problems for every person you’ve met. Maybe Veronica didn’t have the best life before you showed up, but at least she still had a clean soul.”

“And now she doesn’t thanks to you,” the 19th Century ghost said, giving JD a heated glare.

JD tried to fight back the scowl that was threatening to appear on his face. He didn’t like how accusatory they were being towards him, no matter how true their words were.

“You two aren’t what I’d call Guardian Angels,” he shot back. “Where were you two when she went out that night with her friends to summon me?”

Agatha’s ghostly form bristled. “We tried to warn her—”

“Oh, you **tried** to, did you?” the demon asked sardonically. “Well, that makes you completely clear from any responsibility towards looking out for her.”

“There was nothing we could do unless we possessed her to make her stop,” Thomas protested.

“Is that the same excuse you made for whatever happened between her and that Martha girl?” JD carelessly countered. He cursed himself for making a terrible mistake.

The ghosts before flicked, conveying fear. “What do you know about Martha Dunstock?”

“It was my intention to ask you that same question,” the demon admitted.

Both spirits expressed fear on their faces before they ignored him and looked at each other.

“We can’t,” he heard the solider whisper to the former hairdresser.

“I know,” she said quietly back to him.

“What is it you can’t do?” he asked them. Right as he stated his question the two ghosts’ forms began to waver again. “What’s going on?”

“We already said too much,” Agatha said gravely.

JD tried to use whatever scary demon tactics he had to force them to stay, but nothing frightened them enough to remain on the street with him as they faded.

“Fine!” the demon yelled into the empty air, fighting the urge to stomp his foot like a child. “I’ll just go find someone else who will help me.”

He never did. It appeared every spirit on Veronica’s street were just as loyal to her as were Agatha and Thomas. Most of them either faded as soon as they saw JD or pretended that they had no idea what he was asking. His scaring approach only just made the rest vanish from sight.

_Some demon I am. Can’t even get ghosts to do my bidding._ the demon thought in disgruntlement. He had eventually returned to the Dean House hours after midnight, feeling drained in every sense of the word.

There had to be something he could do to find out the truth behind Veronica’s unwilling desire to stand up to others. Obviously, she was traumatized by something from her past, the demon would conclude. That was a good reason for her to bend the knee with Queen Heather.

A small squeak removed JD from his thoughts as he looked to see his little friend sitting on his knee.

“Hello Snowy,” JD offered a hand for his familiar to climb up on. He scratched behind the hamster’s ears and asked, “Any news from the Front?”

Snowball had his red eyes closed while soaking up the love and attention before he opened them up again to look at his master. In a series of small squeaks and ‘uh-huh’s’ the demon learned from the small mammal that there was a book inside Veronica’s room that held years’ worth of secrets. When JD asked if the hamster had a chance to look through the tome the familiar replied that he had done better by bringing the book itself to him.

“Well, where is it?” JD asked.

The hamster leaped from the demon’s knee and landed on the ground. Snowball sat on his hind legs before he opened his mouth.

JD’s slits shrunk. “Oh, Opposition, don’t tell me you—” He only had a moment to shield his eyes to spare him from the terrible sight of Snowball regurgitating out the book he had eaten.

The demon had to wait until he could no longer hear the hamster making hacking sounds before he tentatively opened them up and was relieved to see that Snowball had finished his actions and in front of the creature was a soaked black book. JD wasn’t worried about any of the pages being ruined once he did a quick cleaning spell over it, restoring the paper and ink to its original state.

He randomly flipped through some early pages before one with a bent corner caught his interest. JD scanned the first paragraph and noticed two things.

It was the first to mention mention the Heathers and Marth Dunstock’s name in the same passage.

“’September 15th, 1988.’” JD read aloud. When he picked up the words love-note and Ram that colored the demon’s intrigue.

**End of Chapter 16**

* * *

**Q-A:** Hmm, what’s worse, JD threatening to kill the ghost friends of Veronica’s or reading her diary? I’m saying it’s a toss-up, but let’s be honest, he’s invaded Veronica’s privacy before so is anyone really shocked that he would do this? I’m not. Not really and it will be brought up later on. 

Anyway I apologize for there being no Veronica in this chapter. It’s meant to flesh out JD’s past along with showing more of how his mind works. Plus, I just wanted to see him interact with Agatha some more. She’s a fun character to write. The next chapter will be a parallel to this one, only difference is that it’ll be all about Veronica. I hope you’ll all like that.

Also, off-topic, but I think I turned Snowball into _Goose_ from _Captain Marvel_. XD

Also, also the irony of JD being grossed out by his hamster throwing up while being fine with killing demons and poltergeists in gruesome ways was intentional.

References:

Cumberworld is an old English term to describe someone was useless, someone who has no place in society.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	18. “Mih htiw klat ot yrt yllaer I dluohs”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things still aren’t better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Spooky, scary imagery ahead.

❦Veronica❦

**_March 5, 1985_ **

****

A younger, less jaded and tired looking Veronica Sawyer was staring straight through the window of the school bus, watching all the scenery moving past. It felt surreal to her, seeing everything outside move faster than her legs normally ran. She wondered if that’s how flying felt.

Five years’ worth of depression hadn’t sunken on this Veronica yet, and why should it? In September of that year, she and her classmates were all going to be freshmen at Westerberg. And after that, the colleges of their choosing’s if they played their cards right and maintained good grades as Veronica’s parents always told her. She might even go to Yale—

“What do you think we’ll see when we get there?” the voice of another girl chimed, taking Veronica out of her thoughts. She looked over on the person sitting next to her and smiled.

A hefty girl, no older than fourteen, was smiling at Veronica, her second chin discernably showing.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say… cows?” the black-haired girl suggested in a teasing tone.

Her friend giggled and playfully nudged her. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Well, what else could we see at a diary farm, Martha? There’s going to be a whole lotta cows there.”

Martha shrugged. “I don’t know. I always like to think we might see something new and exciting when we go out of town.”

“I hardly think a dairy farm five miles out of the city limits counts,” Veronica pointed out.

Their conversation was drained out by their other classmates talking. A couple of girls were discussing which brand of lip gloss would look great with their skirts while two rowdy boys talked about sneaking away and doing some cow-tipping.

The bus eventually arrived at their destination and Ms. Wendell’s 8th Grade science class were just happy to get out of the vehicle after a long thirty-minute ride.

A woman in her late thirties along with a couple of parent chaperons ushered the kids out of the bus while the former greeted an older man wearing a _Buckeyes’_ cap and blue overalls.

Veronica was busy looking around at the open space when she heard someone moan.

“Are you okay, Martha?” she asked her best friend.

“Uh, yeah, I mean, that bus ride did make me a little queasy, but I’m totally fine now,” Martha admitted before giving Veronica a look. “Why, are you?”

The black-haired girl turned to see if any of their classmates were responsible for the noise but found nothing to prove it. She shook her head and claimed it was probably just the wind.

Right after that Ms. Wendell clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, students. I want you to listen to Farmer Johnson here as he lists the rules we’ll need to follow while visiting the farm.”

“Thank you, Miss Wendel,” the kindly old man said before clearing his throat. “Now first thing you gotta know is that this place isn’t a place of tomfoolery. I don’t want any of ya youngin’s ta go wandering off. It’s also important that you—”

That moaning came back and Veronica also felt her arms starting to shiver.

“Are you okay?” Martha whispered so not to speak over the farmer’s instructions.

Veronica nodded while rubbing her arms. “Y-yeah, must be a strong wind.” She gazed at the nearby trees and pursed her lips after seeing how still the branches looked.

Martha hummed, not sounding or looking entirely convinced.

Ms. Wendel picked that moment to shush the girl for making a sound.

Martha winced while Veronica held back a giggle.

* * *

“Maybe what you’re going through is puberty?” the young teenager suggested.

“Martha,” Veronica said, scandalized. “You shouldn’t talk about that stuff while we’re in public.”

The girls’ class was already inside the main barn while Ms. Wendel told her students to take notes on all the modern equipment being used and contrast it with the old ones. Veronica had been so determined to write down her notes that she accidentally broke the tip of her pencil. After remembering that one of her classmates, Rodney, had a pencil sharpener she planned to ask him if she could borrow it when that moaning sound from earlier came back. The voice seemed to be coming from behind a wooden door. Veronica was so transfixed on the sound that she hadn’t noticed her group had disappeared until she was now in a new empty hallway.

“Ms. Wendel? Farmer Johnson?” she called out. Veronica began to worry when she didn’t hear anyone call her back even after yelling her teacher’s name. Just as the 13-year-old began to panic she heard the moaning again.

“H-hello?” Veronica tried speaking to the unknown voice.

The moaning became louder.

“Are you hurt?” she attempted again. When her hand subconsciously touched the wooden door it jerked open, becoming ajar. Within the opening the moaning was even louder and Veronica could even pick up the sound of crying.

“Do you need any help?” the black-haired girl asked as she pushed her way into the room. It was a large section of the barn that looked more like a long hallway with two lofts on both sides and a wooden path split in the middle. Veronica slowly made her way down the corridor, wondering why it wasn’t in use when she heard the moaning and crying once more.

“Where are you?” Veronica said. “I can’t see where you—”

“—the pain, the pain.”

“Huh?”

“Make it go away.” The voice sounded masculine. Like a man close to her dad’s age.

Veronica frowned. “Pain?” She looked around without any direction in mind. “What pain? Who are you?”

“The pain, the pain, make it go away,” the unseen man repeated in a whimper. Veronica swallowed in nervousness. She had originally wanted to find someone to help locate her class, not have to help them out instead. But her mom always said to help those in need. Maybe if she helped the seemingly hurt man, he would be kind enough to return the favor. Veronica took a deep breath and mustered up enough courage to press on through and headed to where the voice was coming from. The cries led her towards an empty stall that she was probably once used for the cows. Veronica pushed the stall door open and found someone huddled by a corner.

The person had much longer legs than hers and his arms were wrapped around his midsection. To his side was a scythe. Veronica had a suspicion that the man must be one of the farm’s workers.

“Hi,” she greeted the sniveling man along with a wave. When he didn’t respond she tried again using a louder voice but was shocked to see that he still hadn’t noticed her. Veronica decided she was getting tired of this and walked up to the farmhand. “Excuse me, can you please—GAH!”

Veronica had placed a hand on the man’s shoulder to get his attention, but as soon as she touched it her body felt like the temperature around her had become frigid.

But that wasn’t what made her scream.

Right after Veronica’s hand moved to the man’s shoulder, he turned his head towards her. Half of it looked as though it had been crushed and covered in a thick layer of blood. The other side of his face had a white eye and crooked teeth. He used his damaged eye to look at her. As he started to stand up Veronica saw that the reason, he had his head lowered wasn’t because he was in a fetal position, but because it was angled that way. To Veronica he looked like someone who had fallen off from a high place and landed face first onto the ground.

“The pain, the pain… MAKE IT GO AWAY!” he suddenly shouted before he picked up his scythe. Veronica screamed again before she ran. She ran as fast as her legs could move, hoping to evade the terrifying monster from reaching her. The black-haired girl refused to look back, out of fear that he would be right behind her as his yelling turned louder.

_If this is a nightmare, please let me wake up no!_ she begged. Veronica was less than a few yards away from the door when she heard a swoosh. She managed to duck in the last second, avoiding the blade from swiping her head off her body. The poor girl was in tears by the time she reached the door and slammed it shut. She continued to run down the room until she accidentally bumped into something warm and soft.

“Veronica?” the voice of Ms. Wendel had never sound more comforting to the girl until now.

“Ms. Wendel,” Veronica started to say before crying her eyes out and turning into a blubbering mess, much to the woman’s befuddlement. The rest of her classmates held similar looks, save for two or three kids that looked like they were on the verge of laughing.

“I don’t understand. What’s wrong?” her teacher asked, not sure how to console the distraught student.

“I saw-I saw,” Veronica tried to say, on the verge of a panic attack.

“It’s alright, just breathe and tell me what you saw after calming down okay?” Ms. Wendel asked before giving Veronica a handkerchief. After Veronica wiped her tears away and handed the small cloth back, she recapped everything she experienced after getting separated from the group. Ms. Wendel’s concerned look shifted from trying to understand Veronica to a mixture of gawking at the child as though she were carrying a disease.

“I know what I saw,” Veronica said after seeing the disbelief on her teacher and classmates.

Ms. Wendel frowned before putting her hands on Veronica’s shoulders. “Maybe you just, **thought** you saw an injured man trying to chase you? I’ve heard your English teacher say you have a very creative imagination. Perhaps you just heard a noise from outside and—”

“I didn’t make any of this up!” Veronica snapped, pushing her teacher’s hands off her shoulders. “He was less than five feet away from me, swinging an scythe around like he was the freaking Grim Reaper!”

“I don’t like that tone of voice your using, young lady,” her teacher scolded while every student, but Martha, snickered.

Veronica scowled. “Fine, I’ll just show you where I last saw him.” She led her teacher and the others down the hall she had entered from before finding the door. When she touched the handle, the girl was dumbfounded to find out that the door was locked. “But it was open when I saw it before,” she claimed.

One of the more sympathetic parents asked Farmer Johnson if that door had been unlocked earlier. When he shook his head no, Veronica felt her heart sink.

“But I did go in there,” she insisted. “I heard somebody crying and thought they needed help and then he tried to attack me! I swear I’m not making any of this up.”

“Have you had anyone came down here recently?” she heard her teacher ask Johnson.

“No one’s really used it since an accident a few years back where one of my old handlers fell from one of the lofts,” the farmer explained.

“Wow, Veronica,” a redheaded girl she knew as Heather Chandler say to her with a condescending smile. “Did you really have to make a big show just to get everyone to look at you for once?”

Veronica gave the taller, more developed girl a confused stare. “What?”

“I always knew you were a geeky little nobody, but I didn’t think you were a freak too.”

“No, no I’m not,” Veronica said, but was overlapped by the other kids starting to laugh at her.

“Nobody is ever going to want to talk to you after this little episode of yours,” Heather promised while her blonde friend giggled with a nod.

“No, I’m not a freak! I’m not!”

“That’s enough,” Ms. Wendel came in far too late to break up the taunting. She ordered her students that it was time for them to finish the rest of the field trip before they would have lunch and then get ready to go back to school. Despite the teacher and parents’ best attempts to smooth over what happened, the damage had already been done. No one wanted to sit with the freaky girl who made up scary imaginary friends. All except for Martha, though that caused the other kids to make even worse fat jokes at her for sticking up to the freak. The bus ride back was the only reprieve Veronica and Martha had before their classmates soon reunited with their friends and started spreading all sorts of rumors. While Veronica and Martha were not seen as super unpopular prior to the field trip they were now pushed to the bottom of the barrel in the school’s social hierarchy. Heather made it her personal mission to remind everyone to not be seen with the freak or Martha ‘Dumptruck’ if they knew what was good for them.

Everything stayed that way for three years until one fateful day in 11th Grade. But long before that happened all Veronica could remember (without much of a choice) was the moans and cruel laughter for weeks on end until she started going to Westerberg.

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! The pain. THE PAIN! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! The pain! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Make it go away… **_Darling._**

* * *

Veronica almost tumbled out of bed after shaking herself in her dreams. Her head was inches away from her shag carpet rug and the girl had to pull herself back. She went to her bedside drawer and pulled out a mirror. Veronica sighed after seeing her older reflection staring back at her. She was relieved and frightened to see that it all had been a dream.

Even if it was a dream she hadn’t experienced in years.

_And to think I thought my nightmares were gone for good,_ the ebony-haired teenager thought bitterly. She put the glass away before lying back on her bed. Veronica tossed and turned for minutes on end, trying in vain to get back to sleep. For a second she thought that maybe writing her feelings out into her journal could help her and walked over to her desk before hesitating.

She shook her head before remembering the promise she made about not putting her biggest, darkest secrets into her book. Veronica always had a fear in the back of her mind that either her parents or someone else would find the diary and learn about her powers. She also made sure to keep other terrible secrets only to herself and no one else. Veronica was planning to keep every terrible truth and take it straight to her grave when her time came.

_Which might be a lot sooner than later,_ her normally weak-voiced conscience reminded her. Veronica groaned, plopping onto her head and not caring about the creak her bedframe and mattress made. It reminded her of the way her back had been starting to crack from all the hours she had been busy shopping and ‘helping’ the Heathers.

The days she was spending with the Heathers were starting to become even less enjoyable than before. Hanging out with friends is supposed to be fun and sometimes relaxing, but with each hour she spent with any Heather the exact opposite happened. Heather Chandler was the worst by criticizing every thing Veronica ever did or say while they looked for clothes for their big outing on Halloween.

_Like she wasn’t already like that **before** we became “friends”? _

And then there was her helping the other Heathers with writing more forges, shopping with them for things she couldn’t really afford and mocking students who weren’t as pretty and popular as them. Shopping, exchanging small talk and hanging out stopped being fun for Veronica since 1988. But what was probably the worst thing was that she had no one to truly talk to on a personal level. Not since… Martha.

Veronica held her pillow to her chest while biting her lower lip.

She was starting to wonder if telling JD to fuck off was such a good idea. A tiny, deranged part of herself wanted to say that maybe she should try to talk to him? But she always pushed that insane idea before it formed completely.

Veronica was just so desperate to talk to someone about her… issues. She couldn’t share any of them with any normal human. She never shared what she continued to keep seeing with Martha. She never told anyone else that she kept seeing ghosts after the dairy farm incident. Her classmates would start calling her a freak again if she did reveal her secret. Not even her parents would understand. She tried to find some hints that she must have inherited her strange power from either side of the family but found nothing. For all she knew there was no one else in real life like her. Veronica felt so alone with having no one else to talk about it and yet there was a guy who she could speak to because he seemed to be an expert on the supernatural.

_Too bad he’s the demon you unwillingly formed a contract with and are now forced to spend the rest of your life until you die,_ her stupid conscience reminded her. Veronica groaned a second time before chucking the pillow to a wall. Her conscience then made her get up to go pick up the fallen pillow before her mind went back to the brownhouse. JD went out of his way to save her. She should just write it off as him wanting to protect his Contractor, but he did look genuinely angry at the ghost. The way he fought it off was different from the bored to mildly amused expressions he held when **not** fighting Kurt and Ram. Maybe the reason he was mad at her later was born out of worry?

“Should I really try to talk with him?” she mumbled. Could she really be that despondent? Or guilty towards how she reacted? No, Veronica had every right to be upset at what JD said to her… even if he had no idea how much his words cut deep. The girl decided that she was going to make a choice and that decision was her going to make an attempt to speak with the demon the next time she saw him. It was most definitely a stupid idea, but he did probably save her life, so she at least owed him that much. Even if she was probably going to regret it later.

With all thought and done Veronica tried her best to get back to sleep with what remaining hours she had left. Hopefully spared from further nightmares about her past.

**End of Chapter 17**

* * *

**Q-A:** And~ that’s it until next week. I’m sorry if this chapter felt shorter than the last few. I just felt more of a drive with the previous one for some reason. Maybe I just had more fun with writing the medieval flashback? *Shrugs*

And in case anyone is wondering, Veronica’s nightmares aren’t caused by an incubus this time. They’re from trauma. Real bad trauma as you all read. And just to be clear therapists do exist in this AU, but Veronica thinks telling them that she can literally see ghosts will force unwanted attention on her and she doesn’t want to deal with it.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	19. "Uoy tsurt dluohs I gniyas er’uoy, os”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when things look like they’re getting better, they only become worse.

❦Veronica❦

Veronica woke to a new bright sunny day with a full head and an empty stomach. Having her mom’s breakfast helped somewhat, but she still had a lot on her mind. She only hummed and nodded at what her folks said to her (only mildly interested at the on-going story about the missing policemen compared to her personal drama). The dark-haired girl was so distracted that she almost didn’t hear Heather Duke’s car horn while waiting for her ride. When Veronica walked up, she noticed that it was only the brunette Heather in her Jeep. There was no trace of the ginger and blonde Heathers.

“Where’s Heather and Heather?” she asked the green wearing girl.

“Heather had early cheer practice, so her mom dropped her off at school and Heather said she had something come up and couldn’t carpool with us,” Heather replied, sounding indifferent. 

Veronica held back a sigh of relief. She was happy to have a small break from the Mythic Bitch for about 15 minutes.

“So, are you gonna climb in or what?” Heather sounded impatient.

“Right, sorry.” Veronica got in the green Jeep without any difficulty and Heather shifted gears and drove.

For the first few minutes there was a stifling silence inside the car that almost made Veronica miss the incessant chatter that she normally had to sit through with the Heathers.

“Are you actually dating that weird new kid?” Heather asked out of the blue.

Her question threw Veronica off before replying with, “W-what?” Very smooth, Veronica.

Heather rolled her eyes. “Don’t play dumb, stupid. You know who I’m talking about.”

“I wasn’t trying to act dumb; I was just startled by the question.” she said defensively.

The brunette sighed. “Are you gonna answer it or not?”

“Why? Did Heather set you up for this?” Veronica knew that Heather didn’t need clarification for which Heather she was referring to.

“I’m just curious for myself,” Heather explained. “It’s almost impossible to ask questions with her around.”

“Yeah, unless she thought of it first or decided she liked your question enough to take credit for it,” Veronica said in a knowing tone.

“So, that’s why I’m asking now ‘cause as soon as we get to Westerberg the Great High and Mighty herself will want our full undivided attention again.”

Veronica couldn’t help but giggle. She hadn’t come up with that nickname yet.

“You really want to know?” Veronica leaned her head before coming up with a clever lie. “The kid, Jason Dean, is related to this college buddy of my mom’s. She wanted me to help him out with getting to know Westerberg or else she wasn’t going to help me buy the dress I wanted for Senior Prom.”

Heather shifted her eyes from the road for less than a second to look at Veronica before returning her focus back to the tar and said, “Bullshit.”

“Excuse me?” Veronica sat up to look at her.

The brunette snorted, “Don’t act all innocent. You’ve heard me say worse things than bullshit, Veronica.”

Veronica held back a snort. Heather wasn’t wrong about that. “What makes you think I’m lying?” she went with asking.

“Because I’ve known you for years at this point.”

“Years?” Veronica raised a brow. “We’ve only started hanging out last year.”

“Yeah, well, I knew you before that. You know, as classmates,” Heather said.

“You didn’t talk to me,” she reminded her. “Nobody but my old friend was willing to speak with me through the first two years of high school.”

“Fine, I knew **of** you. Happy?” Heather then said, “I know you’re lying because most of the time you did you fidget. Either with your lips or curling your thumb.”

Veronica bit her lower lip and then realized that she had curled her right thumb over her lap. Heather’s observation skills were better than she thought. _I guess that’s why they made her head of the Yearbook Committee,_ the ebony-haired girl rationalized.

“So how do you know that guy?”

“…I met him a couple weeks ago,” Veronica truthfully said. “He kinda just appeared out of the blue and some things led me to having to help him out.”

“He’s not blackmailing you, is he?” To Veronica it almost sounded as though Heather was concerned for her.

_I wish that was the case._ “No,” she said honestly again. “I just had to make this little deal with him that I can’t back out of.”

“That sucks. There’s nothing you can do about it?”

Veronica sighed, placing her elbow next to the car’s window and a hand under her chin. “Unless you know any angels,” she muttered.

“What?”

The girl mentally cursed after realizing she spoke too much. “Wha—Look out!” Veronica interrupted herself when a white dove flew right in front of Heather’s windshield.

“The fuck!” Heather cursed as she forced herself to break hard, causing the Jeep to swerve into the curb. Luckily for them the car hit nothing or no one, only leaving the two young women frazzled by the experience.

“That was weird,” Veronica decided to go with.

“Yeah,” Heather said quietly before she put the car into reverse and slowly brought her vehicle back on the road. The rest of the ride was much calmer than before with the two girls arriving at Westerberg without any other hitches.

Veronica climbed out of Heather’s car with her bag after they arrived in the school’s back parking lot. She noticed a familiar looking motorcycle a few spaces ahead of the Jeep and sighed. The girl took in another deep breath before walking towards the school’s doors, readying herself for whatever was going to come her way.

* * *

✬JD✬

JD picked up Veronica’s scent the moment she entered the building. He wanted to drop what he was doing and go look for her but had to keep up his appearance as an apathetic social reject that preferred to keep everyone away at arm’s length. Pretending to be someone who doesn’t like human contact was a pain.

In hindsight, going with the anti-social grunge look on the first day of school and beyond was more exhausting that JD realized.

To his surprise someone did come up to him as he pulled out one of the textbooks, he would be needing for his first class. When he closed his locker, he was greeted with the appearance of one of the apparent members of the so-called nerd tribe he heard other kids call them. Slicked black hair, tight pants that would never look attractive during any era, flat sole sneakers with loose shoelaces and a face unfortunately riddled with acne.

It took JD about forty seconds to recognize the kid’s face.

“You’re in my math class in third period,” the demon noted. “Ralph, was it?”

“Rodney, actually,” the teenager corrected him.

“Ah, right, got it,” JD nodded in understanding. “Any particular reason you’re approaching me, Rodney?”

“I just—” the boy paused to scan the hallway briefly before looking back at JD. “—I wanted to say thanks for what you’ve been doing the last couple weeks.”

JD raised a brow. He was not sure what the human was referring to. “You’re thanking me for backtalking at the teachers or skipping classes so I can go on a Slurpee binge?”

“Uh, no, I mean what you’ve been with Sweeny and Kelly. You know, those two football players you’ve been beating up?” Rodney added when the demon gave him a blank look.

“… You mean the two Neanderthals in those letterman jackets.” After all this time JD hadn’t bothered to learn their last names. He always called them _Tweedledee_ and _Tweedledum_ - _arse_ in his head.

That earned a light chuckle from the kid before he recollected himself. “You fighting those guys and beating them repeatedly has made them obsessed with wanting to defeat you. They’re too distracted to go after my friends and me at the moment.”

_Talk about pathetic._ The demon thought about the jocks. Did they really have nothing better to do than target people that were physically inferior to them? And were they really feeling threatened by one guy that defeated them without touching them? Well… That last one might be more justified, as JD reflected, holding back a chuckle.

“The other thing I wanted to tell you was something I learned recently,” Rodney said, his expression turned worried.

“What is it?” For some reason JD felt a wave of concern come over him.

“One of my D&D buddies, Kyle, he has the same gym period as Sweeney and Kelly and overheard that they’re planning to wail on you with extra help from some of their friends on the football team.” Rodney sounded very terrified the more he described what he assumed was going to be the demon’s ultimate fate.

“D and D?” JD asked, suddenly becoming hyper-fixated on those two letters.

“It’s short for _Dungeons and Dragons_. It’s okay if you’ve never heard of it. Most people at this school don’t.”

“But you do and so do your friends I’m guessing?”

“Yeah.” the kid explained before he held a look of realization and shook his head. “But that’s not the point! You’re gonna get killed by Kurt and Ram at the end of the school period today. Aren’t you the least bit scared?”

JD held the most indifferent look he had on his face. He could easily write a book on all the actual times his life was threatened, and it would be thicker than the Bible. “Am I supposed to be scared?”

Rodney gaped at the taller person as though he could see through his human illusion and was frightened by what he saw. “The rumors are true. You really are crazy.”

The demon laughed. He laughed so hard that he had to wipe a tear from his eye. “It took you that long to figure out?”

The human shrugged, causing JD to chuckle again.

_This mortal is far more amusing than I expected._ JD decided he had to do something since he hadn’t been this entertained in a while. “What did you say your name was again?”

“Uh, it was Rodney.”

“Rodney…?”

“Griffin. Rodney Griffin,” the black-haired boy answered.

“Well, then Rodney of Griffin, I, Jason Dean, owe you a small boon in appreciate for your kind deed.”

“Oh, there’s no need,” the human said, his face starting to sweat. “You taking the jocks attention away from me and my friends is more than enough.”  
  


“I insist,” the demon said. “I’m going to give you a boon.”

“You’re giving me a boon?” Rodney looked confused.

“The next time you need help with something and I’m nearby, I’ll do it. No questions asked,” the demon swore. He considered it the greatest gift to bestow on someone.

Rodney still showed signs of hesitation, though. “Uhh.”

“Just take the boon, kid,” JD advised. “You have no idea what you’ll lose if you decline my offer.”

The little human nodded, visibly intimidated by the tall demon. Rodney then hurried off after uttering an awkward goodbye and fled the scene.

_Humans can be so droll,_ JD thought right as his nose picked up a familiar scent.

Just what was Veronica Sawyer up to?

* * *

❦Veronica❦

The black-haired girl had been standing by a corner, watching JD interact with that one kid she almost asked for a sharpener back in 8th Grade. Veronica was surprised to see the demon interacting with another mortal but wasn’t worried because he only could feed off her.

_But why is he talking with him anyway?_ Veronica wanted to know the answer and inched a bit closer when she saw Rodney abruptly walk away with a nervous look on his face. She could relate to that.

“I was wondering when I would be seeing you again,” JD said to her without turning around to look at her.

Veronica winced after she started to remember the demon’s ability to sense her presence. After she checked and then double-checked to make sure no one was watching “Why were you talking with that kid?” she decided to ask him.

The demon smirked. “Jealous that I’m talking to other humans besides you?”

Veronica gave him a stare. “Yeah sure.”

“I wasn’t doing anything bad to him,” he assured her. “Kind of the opposite, really.”

“Uh-huh.”

He looked at her with a frown. “You don’t believe me,” he said as a statement, not a question.

“What would a demon like you want to do with a human like Rodney?”

“Maybe I was looking to make a new friend?” That wasn’t what had happened at all, but Veronica could tell he was having a little fun teasing her with that thought.

Veronica was looking less skeptic and more puzzled. “You want to be friends with Rodney of all people?”

“Something wrong with him?”

* * *

✬JD✬

The girl shrugged before he noticed her looking around. JD guessed she was probably worried about someone spying on them. After he told her that no one was coming down the hall she appeared less guarded. “I don’t have any problems with Rodney,” she eventually said. “We just don’t travel in similar circles.”

“Neither do we,” he said, giving her a smile.

She rolled her eyes at him, much to his disappointment. “I’m forced to spend time with you under protest. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about what both of us said the other day.”

JD, who was still a bit sore over their argument let out a huff and said, “If you came here to apologize go ahead.”

“Excuse me?” Veronica asked, having the gall to look offended.

“You finally figured out that I was right about those lousy friends of yours and that you should ditch them the first chance you get,” he replied.

Veronica’s response was swift and firm. “I’m not doing that.”

The demon was very tempted to let out an animalistic hiss in annoyance. “Why~? They are literally the worst. I’ve been asking around and everyone seems to agree that they respect, fear and hate the Heathers. You’d be better off without them.” He didn’t understand why Veronica wasn’t being likeminded about his sound logic.

For some strange reason Veronica looked scared. “I can’t leave them… even if I wanted to.” She sounded so defeated that it compelled JD to take a pause. He was not sure why she was acting that way. “Why do you sound like you care?” she asked, giving him a skeptical stare.

JD sighed before telling her the truth. “Because I do care about you, okay? I don’t trust Chandler or the rest of her cronies.”

“So, you’re saying I should trust you?” She gave him a disbelieving stare.

“It would be great if you did,” he said sarcastically. More and more of his repressed feelings were spilling out and he was letting it all go. “I may be a demon, but at least I wouldn’t tell you to plant a fake love note and—shit,” he cursed. JD was not supposed to blurt about that last part.

“What?” Veronica said in a flat voice.

“Nothing,” the demon attempted to deny.

Veronica narrowed her eyes before saying, “I never told you anything about a love note. How do you know about that?”

“Because I—” he balked.

“Because you what? … Answer me, JD. You aren’t supposed to lie to me.”

“I read your diary,” he fessed up before slapping a hand over his mouth. The demon winced after realizing how screwed he was and waited for the inevitable explosion of Veronica yelling at him. To his shock Veronica had a calm face. An eerily calm expression in all honesty. When he looked at her eyes, however, he could see a dark storm brewing.

“I want you to make that invisible and muting spell again,” she told him.

“Why should I—”

“NOW!”

“Okay, okay, no need to start nagging,” the demon complained to hide his startled emotions. Without much difficulty JD did the same dark spell he had done the last time. It took a bit of his reserved energy, but the demon knew Veronica would make whatever she wanted to say quickly because the bell for next period would ring in a few minutes.

Once the spell was cast the demon was shoved into the lockers by a very upset Veronica.

  
  
“You son of a bitch,” she cursed at him.

JD scowled. “Don’t you dare bring my mother into this,” he warned with a snarl.

“I don’t give a fuck about any of that. How dare you read my diary!” she shouted at him. “You can’t just look into someone’s personal thoughts like that. It’s a total invasion of personal privacy. What the fuck were you thinking?! … Oh wait, what am I talking about? You’re the same asshole that snuck into my room the night after we met,” she pretended to look dumbfounded before she proceeded to keep glaring at the demon.

“How am I supposed to know that reading a book is bad as going into someone’s room without their permission?” JD asked judgmentally.

Veronica gave him a genuinely dumbfounded gaze that time. “Reading a person’s diary isn’t the same as looking at a pulp fiction novel.”

The demon frowned, but felt a bit confused at what Veronica was saying to him. “And how was I supposed to know that?”

“How can you possibly not know what a diary is?” she replied with an arched eyebrow.

The demon was ready to list so many reasons why he knowledge of modern humans was so limited before Veronica spoke, “You know what? I don’t even care what excuses you have. You don’t even sound sorry for what you did.”

JD winced, hating how right she was. He didn’t feel regret for looking into her diary (even if there was jack-shit inside that would help him in anyway). But what he felt regretful now that he knew he made Veronica upset. The demon had no idea what he’d done would garner such a response from her. Though he probably would react in a similar manner if someone stole his own books.

“I made sure to put it back after I read it if that makes a difference,” the demon said, thinking it would calm her down.

He really should’ve been paying a lot more attention to Veronica.

The ebony-haired girl gave him a very fierce glare that was just as painful as every slap and mallet whack, she had done up to that point.

“I, Veronica Sawyer, command you, JD, to never come near me.” were the immortal words she uttered to him.

JD was sure all the color in his face drained after he heard that order. “No, you don’t mean—”

“I told you before to leave me alone,” she reminded him, her expression devoid of any emotion. “And you disobeyed me. You broke what little trust I had for you.” Veronica smiled ruefully. “You know, I really was ‘this’ close to consider giving you a second chance… But now? Now I want nothing to do with you. Ever.”

JD could only stare in shock was Veronica walked away, breaking from the illusion after stepping out of it. Around them students appeared as they made their way to their next classes. The demon felt a flurry of emotions swell inside of him. Confusion, disgust, anger, shock, indignation, fear and sadness. JD pushed all those feelings away before he let out his frustrations.

“You know what, fine! I can’t wait to see you rot in Hell,” he shouted at her retreating form, already loathing himself for letting those harmful words to spill out. But JD did nothing as Veronica left the hall.

* * *

♔Heather♔

Heather Chandler had only witnessed the last part of Dean’s outburst to know enough. Whatever little spark that was burning between Veronica and that guy was extinguished for sure. There was no chance Veronica was going to want to stay with that freaky loser. Heather now had nothing to worry about when October 31st was going to arrive. She smiled a Glasgow grin as everything fell into place.

It made her start to think that the demon summoning spell failing wasn’t such a hinderance after all.

**End of Chapter 18**

* * *

**Q-A:** Well, my story isn’t going to be passing the _Bechdel Test_ anytime soon. EDIT: Turns out my story has passed the ’Test’ according to some of my advent readers. 

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	20. “Yas uoy neewollaH”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the “Big Date.” Knowing our kids’ track records, it might not end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: NSFW content up ahead, mentions of nonconsensual sex.

It was three days to Halloween and Veronica felt like she was dying inside. The preparations Heather made the black-haired girl go through drained her both mentally and physically. She had to have the right clothes, she had to have the right makeup and she needed to have the right attitude and know what to say around boys. She also had to make sure not to mess things up with her date.

“So, just a reminder the kegster we’re going to is at my boyfriend’s fraternity,” Heather said to her while she was at the redhead’s house to go over the plan. “I’m setting you up with his friend, David. I hear he’s a really great kisser who knows how to give a girl a good time.”

_Then why aren’t you dating him,_ she wanted to shoot back but held her tongue.

“Don’t talk to anyone that I say you can’t talk to because not everyone there is cool like us,” she warned. “And you better do what David asks, or else he’ll blab, and you’ll end up being a laughingstock in Remington. That means I’ll be one too by default, so don’t fuck it up.”

Veronica pretended that she cared about what Heather was telling her and nodded. She did make a mental list of Heather’s instructions and was prepared to write them all down later. Heather was the type of person to quiz people on these things.

Oh, she also had to make sure that no ghosts would bother her on that night. Halloween used to be one of Veronica’s favorite holidays when she was little. Dressing up as a witch or some _Disney_ princess was fun along with getting a pillowcase full of candy and other sweets. Even when she had gotten too old for trick-or-treating, she still liked going out with her former friends during middle school, sleeping over at their houses, snacking on the candy they raided from the bowl their parents left out for trick-or-treaters. It was a fun time for just about every period of Veronica’s life. 

But then she got her ghost-seeing ability and had it to ruin everything. Since then, Veronica was scared to go out. It got less terrifying as she got older, after learning that not all ghosts were scythe wielding maniacs, but she still didn’t want to leave her home to be bothered by lonely spirts aimlessly adrift. She would much rather sit in her living room re-watching dumb B-Movies with her dad while wrapped in a nice thick blanket. Sadly, Veronica learned after becoming a part of the Heathers’ clique that you can’t always get what you want.

Hopefully there won’t be any monsters in Remington for Veronica to face on October 31st, right?

* * *

✬JD✬

It was one day to Halloween and JD was dying. What better way to spend it than drinking a large quantity of Slurpees? The artificial flavor and ice sadly did nothing to make JD forget what was going to be happening in less than 24 hours. Though, maybe if he drank alcohol that would do the trick… but he still wanted to remember his own name and not set the house on fire because he didn’t like the curtains. Snowball would also be displeased if JD wasn’t able to refill his water if he was still recovering from a hangover.

Hence the reason for the Slurpee binge.

“What’s with all the bags of candy on the shelves,” the demon randomly asked the 7-Eleven clerk after drinking his eighteenth cup.

“They’re for Halloween,” came the employee’s bored tone. At the corner of JD’s eye, he saw that the young man was reading a magazine the demon didn’t recognize.

“Halloween you say,” he said with interest. “I assuming it’s for all the devil summoning that’ll happen on that day.”

Despite using the obviously sarcastic voice the cashier didn’t take it as a joke and rolled his eyes. “No, it’s for all the kids who go trick-or-treating. What planet are you from?”

“England actually,” JD said truthfully. “We don’t have trick-or-treating as you call it there, I’m afraid.” That part was probably true, though he wasn’t sure since it had been literal centuries the last time, he visited his home country.

“So, there are kids who dress up and run around going to people’s homes demanding sweets and they get them, for free?” JD ultimately grilled the human for answers after becoming very interested to learn everything he could about that bastardized version of Samhain.

“Yeah,” the clerk said, looking very tired and dispassionate in having this conversation.

“Well, this has been a very enlightening evening my good man,” the demon said.

“My name’s Craig,” the human pointed to his nametag.

“I appreciate the clarification, Craig, now if you could be so kind to charge me for the Slurpees, along with the ten bags of candy I’m intending to buy that would be most helpful,” JD requested in a posh voice as he pulled out a large stack of $2 bills.

“Where do you keep getting all this money to spend on this stuff?” Craig the clerk said, looking at the disguised demon with a naturally dazed look.

“Inheritance,” JD said, which was another technical truth.

* * *

JD parked his motorcycle into the house’s garage with no difficulty. As he carried the ten large candy bags with both arms, he finally noticed all the decorations the other houses on the street had. All of them were varying degrees of effort some going very big and others simply going with a single pumpkin. Even the Sawyers’ porch possessed one big pumpkin with a buck-tooth smile carved on the front side.

  
  
After he regarded all the adornments the demon went inside the Dean House and dumped his ‘groceries’ in the main hallway. The loud thump the ten bags made drew the pure white ball of fluff that was Snowball out from one of the mouse holes he used to travel around the home.

The demon inspected his home with a displeased expression. None of what he was seeing suited his taste. He glanced down after sensing a presence by his foot and noticed that it was his little friend. JD smiled, picked up the familiar and started walking around the room.

“Alright, Snowball we have less than 24 hours to turn this house into a haunting destination for all the kiddies on this street,” JD said to his hamster. “We’re going to need pumpkins, paper skeletons, shrunken heads, voodoo dolls, Norse runes, cursed Arabian lamps, and—” he was interrupted by his familiar incessant squeaking. The demon stared intently at the small rodent while taking in his words. The more the hamster spoke in his animal language the more annoyed JD looked.

“I’m not doing all this so I can forget about what’s going to happen tomorrow,” he vehemently denied, pointing an accusative finger at the hamster. “You shouldn’t be so judgmental yourself. You’re the one that’s been eating your feelings away by getting rid of the house’s former rodent problem when **she** stopped coming here.”

“Squeak. Squeak.” Snowball said.

“Yeah, I did help you with that, but it was because I was bored and I wasn’t in the mood to have a Slurpee last Wednesday,” the demon countered. “Look, we’re gonna do this because I just want to, okay? Tomorrow is a holiday after all. Normal people are supposed to celebrate it and the last thing I want is humans to snoop around here getting all suspicious. I don’t,” he paused to sigh. “I don’t have the same kind of strength I usually do since **she** forced me to not feed from **her** anymore.”

JD grumbled under his breath before he opened a candy bag and popped a piece of gum after he unwrapped it. After chewing on it for a couple of bites the demon blew a bubble. It burst a few seconds later, a pink layer of sticky gum was now stuck to his face.

“Okay, first I get this stuff off of me and **then** we work on making this house look presentable for tomorrow,” the demon declared before heading off to a washroom.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Veronica added one last dollop of mousse into her hair before messing her black locks around to style it the exact way Heather told her to. She then checked to see if her gloss and mascara were on the right way while making sure she had enough blush on her cheeks. After going over all of that for about five minutes Veronica looked to see if her outfit didn’t have any gunk on it from the previous activities. Despite going to a party on Halloween night Heather insisted that the two of them should wear their colors. That of course meant Heather would be in red while Veronica had on a loose blue top with a single spaghetti strap with a tighter black shirt underneath. The sparkly black skirt she wore just barely reached her mid-thighs and wore two dark blue dress shoes. Every part of the ensemble was chosen by Heather. She told Veronica that she wasn’t allowed to wear anything else for tonight.

_Why do I feel like a giant_ Barbie _?_ she asked herself while looking at the mirror. _Oh, right because I am._

A knock at the door removed her thoughts and Veronica rushed over to it and leaned against the wood so the person on the other side would hear her. “Yes?”

“Honey,” her mother called out. “I just wanted to let you know that Heather Chandler just parked her car in front of the house.”

“Thanks for telling me, Mom,” Veronica said. “I’m almost done getting ready.”

“I hope you have fun at your sleepover,” Mrs. Sawyer said.

Veronica smiled weakly. While she was planning to stay at Heather’s for the night the girl left out the key fact that they were going out to a college party. On Halloween. It was one thing to go to a Homecoming party with classmates, but her parents would pop their respected veins if they knew she was about to spend time with people (mainly boys) 2-to-4 years her senior. The seventeen-year-old had no choice but to withhold the truth from them, but she made a promise to herself that she wasn’t going to anything bad other than drink one beer and just pretend she’s had refills. Heather McNamara once told her beers at college parties always tasted like piss anyway.

“You better hurry, I think you should head out quickly or else your dad will ask Heather if he could drive her car,” her mother playfully teased.

“I will,” Veronica said but waited until she heard her mother climb down the stairs before she left her room. Once the black-haired girl saw both her parents settling down by the TV to watch whatever special was on, she bid them a quick farewell before they had the chance to see her in the revealing outfit she had on.

“God, what took you so long to get ready?” Veronica heard Heather holler at her once she exited her house.

Veronica knew better than to shoot back a wisecrack when Heather was in one of her moods, so she stayed silent and simply did a shrug with her shoulders. She purposely ignored the disapproving glare the redhead gave her. Heather’s attitude didn’t lighten up while the two had to wait for a large group of trick-or-treaters to jaywalk across the street.

“Isn’t there a law against going across the road like that,” Heather complained, “They should be thrown in juvie.”

Veronica threw her a nonplussed look. “They’re kids, Heather. And it’s Halloween, there’s bound to be more kids running around than usual.”

Heather ignored Veronica’s comment and added, “Where are all these kids coming from anyway? I thought you told me once that there weren’t that many kids on your street.”

“I’m not sure,” the girl in blue said honestly. She looked through the car window and noticed that a large group of them were congregating right in front of the Dean House. Veronica leaned forward as she started to worry about what **he** might be doing behind her back. She then remembered Heather again and thought about trying something with her.

“Hey Heather?” Veronica said, looking away from the scene before her to glance at the other girl.

“What?” the lady in red said, still showing annoyance at their inability to leave the neighborhood yet.

Veronica paused, thinking over her next words carefully before asking, “Does that house the kids seemed to be going towards look familiar to you?”

Heather spared one uninterested stare at the Dean House before frowning. “What are you talking about?”

The blue-eyed girl was taken aback. Did JD’s magic somehow erased Heather’s memory of the demon summon ritual?

“That, uh summoning game we did back in September, you still remember that, right?”

“Of course, I do,” Heather replied. When she saw an opening the girl took it, allowing her to drive out of the street finally. As Heather’s Porsche drove them further away, she continued to say, “It was back on Murphy and O’Keefe.”

Veronica frowned and tentatively pressed further, “Do you know which house that was in?”

“What house?” Heather shifted her eyes from the road for a second to give Veronica a confused stare. “We did it on a vacant lot.”

She wanted to open her mouth to correct the redhead but stopped herself before she could. Veronica realized if she really was the only person who remembered where the Dean House was originally located, she’d better keep it to herself or else people would question what she knew and demand real answers.

“Yeah, sorry, you’re right,” she said, trying to sound casual enough. Veronica didn’t see the suspicious look Heather threw at her as she turned a corner and were eventually heading out of the town’s city limits.

As soon as they were leaving Sherwood Veronica did her best to push all her previous worries behind. Excluding that long line of kids in front of **his** lawn. Even though **he** was unable to harm anyone thanks to the contract she still worried about what type of corruption **he** might place on those kids.

* * *

✬JD✬

“—and that’s why when the Irish came over to the New World and saw all these nice, big, hallow gourds they decided they would make much better lanterns over the harder to carve turnips,” the demon said, concluding his story about the origin of Jack o'lanterns.

A couple of the kids (one of which was dressed in a cute pudgy pumpkin dress) oo’ed while their parents also shared amazed stares. They probably didn’t think a ‘teenager’ would be so cultured in the history behind a random holiday. But Halloween wasn’t so random to JD or his mother. He remembered countless memories where she told him the stories of her ancestral homeland and all its traditions. She talked about how the people were once more open-minded about the supernatural and only saw it as a part of life, something that didn’t need to be prosecuted or eradicated. Druids, banshees, heroes like the Fianna were just some of the many stories he grew up hearing. After they traveled to the ‘New World’ his mother made it a habit to collect more stories from both there and from the other immigrants that arrived to make a better life than what they had. Or to escape from an old one in the Deans’ case. Those stories were some of the few things JD still had of his mother, so he kept them close to his heart and not let them become forgotten. Sharing them with the children as he distributed candy was an added bonus. Of course, JD didn’t just randomly tell the young mortals what he knew, he made sure any trivia he said was associated with whatever costume the child was wearing.

If a kid was in a pirate costume, he told them about Sir Francis Drake and how he was a good guy and villain in the eyes of the English and Spanish respectfully.

If a girl was a black cat, he’d talked about the misconceptions associated with the breed and how they were genuinely helpful to have around a house (except when they wanted to eat hamsters, JD would never forgive the last cat that tried to do that, but he wisely kept that last part to himself).

  
If there was a child that looked like Dracula, JD would tell a quick story about the Scottish _baobhan sith_ and how they were much cooler than some old movie-monster that should have no real association with a Romanian ruler (“He didn’t drink his enemies’ blood, that was just propaganda made by still living enemies,” he’d tell the little Dracula before he left when his parents weren’t listening).

When a little girl dressed as the Wicked Witch showed up on JD’s doorstep, he only had the heart to say they were gravely misunderstood people who deserved better and gave her two extra pieces of candy when no one else was looking.

If he saw a kid dressed as a mummy, he gave a short summary of how the mummification process went, and not just the ones in Egypt. The boy really liked hearing it, his squeamish-looking parents, not so much. And yet despite how the demon’s stories varied, word of mouth quickly turned his home into a place more hopping than a speakeasy. The parents were charmed by all the pumpkins that were scattered across the property, in the windows, the walkway and even some up on the roof. He never told anyone how he got them up there. The kids liked the candy and the fact that a teenager was being nice to them and would comment if he thought their costumes looked nice. JD did **occasionally** give a couple of critiques if an outfit wasn’t accurate, but never rude enough to break a kid’s spirit, figuratively and literally.

All and all, JD was starting to have some fun. He had forgotten about his glamour starting to fail on him and initially panicked when the humans saw him with red eyes, pointed ears, the horns and a tail poking out of his coat, but just like ~~Ver~~ —someone else he was refusing to think about—they excused it as a very convincing get-up and even asked if he was going to dress like that again for next Halloween.

For the life of him the demon never once thought about where he’d be a year later. JD wasn’t even sure if he was going to last by Thanksgiving at this point with how weak he was starting to feel. ~~Veron~~ —Someone else was doing just fine since she got all her nutrients from actual food, something which JD grew more and more envious with each passing day. At least he could enjoy the flavor of human foods. The candy he had intermittently munched on was a good distraction to comfort him… until he realized there wasn’t any more sweets left. For him or the kids.

JD told the expectant parents and kids that his father (saying that left a bad taste in his mouth) would go get more candy but until then the Dean House free ‘Candy Store’ was out of business. Once the remaining disappointed trick-or-treaters left JD left on his motorbike and headed to the 7-Eleven to see if they had any treats left with Snowball coming along for the ride. When the clerk said they were all out JD tried a couple other stores only to find them devoid of candy as well. That left him with no other choice than to go to the first store outside of town to find if there were any sweets left. The _K-Mart_ between Sherwood and the collage town of Remington had one last bag of _Tootsie Roll Pops_ , a candy that JD decided was better than nothing. Promising to thank Lady Luck later he picked up the bag and carried it over to the nearest cash register. With how late it was getting in the evening there was only one register open and there were already two older men waiting in line with a couple liters of cheap beer in their hands. JD didn’t pay them any heed at first until he picked up bits of their conversation.

What he heard did not make him happy.

“—so, then David told me that his roommate’s high school girlfriend is bringing another girl tonight,” an obnoxious sounding frat-boy was saying to his equally blitzed sounding friend.

“Truly? Is she hot?”

“No idea, but I heard something about her being a virgin.” Hearing that comment made JD’s ears burn for ~~someone el~~ —Veronica’s sake.

“Won’t that mean she might not wanna fuck with Dave, though?”

“Who cares? Dave said he has a plan to get her to comply with him.”

And~ that was when JD’s denial finally broke down. He knew what he had to do. The demon waited until the two bastards made their purchases and headed outside before he would follow them. He didn’t bother to buy the candy and just left it on a random counter, hoping an employee would know where to place it back.

JD tailed the two mortals as they made their way across the parking lot. When he didn’t see any other humans around the demon used what little enhanced strength, he had left to grab both males and push them roughly against their car.

“Where and when is the party your friend David is going to be at,” he said, cutting to the chase.

“What the Hell?” one of the men said in alarm.

The demon was growing aggravated and repeated the question and added, “Tell me now and I’ll pretend I didn’t see you two.” Slowly JD felt more of his glamour failing and more of his demonic form reveal itself to the two intoxicated mortals.

The one who was the least drunk whimpered, “He’s at our frat house. We’re hosting a kegster there.”

“Dude!” his friend chided. “He’s gonna probably kill him or something.”

“Oh, your friend deserves a fate far worse than death if he’s planning to do what you said he might be attempting,” JD promised with a frenzied stare. “Now, where is this ‘frat house’ of yours located? Tell me and I’ll let you both keep your dicks… Not that they’d be any use to you with how much of a turn off your personalities seem to be.”

After a bit more threatening the demon eventually got the information he was seeking and erased both humans’ memories, leaving them standing in a daze by their van. He wasn’t sure if he only took a year’s worth instead of an hour, but he was in too big of a bad mood to care enough at the moment.

His suspicions were sadly correct. Veronica was dealing with a real crumb of a man.

“Now all we to do is go to Remington,” the demon said before remembering one crucial detail. The drive to the town with the college is over thirty minutes, even on a motorcycle as fast as his.

“By the time I get there it will certainly be too late. There’s gotta be a way for me to get there faster than my bike,” the demon said.

On the motorcycle’s seat Snowball let out a small squeak.

“You can get me there?” JD said, arching a brow. “But how…” he trailed off after remembering one little trick his familiar had. “You’re small enough that you can slip between realms and get there in a snap.” The demon grinned until a new thought arrived and then he frowned. “But I’m not small enough and I can hardly use enough magic as it is.”

The Hell-Hamster wasn’t perturbed by his master’s worries and opened his mouth.

JD only need a couple seconds to figure out what Snowball was implying. “Oh~,” he appeared a bit squeamish. “Do I really have to?”

Surprisingly the small animal rolled his beady eyes at him and let out an impatient squeak.

“Alright, you’re right. We’re doing this for Veronica,” JD conceded. He closed his eyes and turned his back against the rodent. “Just make it quick, okay?”

He heard Snowball let out one last squeak before the demon felt himself enveloped in a wet, moist, encompassment.

JD sighed, crossing his arms, and thought, _The things a demon does for a mortal they’re still hung on._

**End of Chapter 19**

* * *

**Q-A:** No one can convince me that JD **wouldn’t** be nice around kids. And yes, before you ask, Snowball did eat JD…. I never said this story was going to be accurate to real life, did I? Though I’m guessing the tags should’ve been a good enough warning. I don’t even know if Hell Hamsters are a real thing. Since I apparently made them up, I can give them whatever powers I want. XD

So, I owe all of you an apology for the last AN I did where I made that joke about the Bechdel Test. I was under the assumption that any film with even ONE scene of two women talking about a man failed the test automatically. I hadn’t looked it up in a long time and I promise to do better research. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. That was never my intention.

References:

Crumb is old slang for describing a person who is mean and just plain terrible. (According to this site: [https://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/?term=&beginEra=1910&endEra=1920&clean=true&submitsend=Search](https://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/?term=&beginEra=1910&endEra=1920&clean=true&submitsend=Search)) I’m not surprised if it’s where calling a person/place/thing crumby originated from.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	21. “Llikdaor tew ekil llems uoy od yhw”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party Time but not the fun kind, unfortunately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There’s going to be a scene where a man tries to force himself on someone underage. If that makes anyone uncomfortable, they are free to skip/wait for the next chapter where it will only be briefly mentioned and not shown.

❦Veronica❦

Veronica wondered if a college party would be any different than the one, she was invited to for Homecoming last year and this year. She turned out to be correct. It was way worse.

For starters the music was louder than it had any right to be and since it was indoors the sounds pounded when it hit the walls. Granted the homecoming party Ram hosted was outdoors so that helped make the sound bearable, but clearly the people hosting this one weren’t thinking (or caring) about the fact they will lose the ability to hear when they pass the age of thirty.

The other problem Veronica had was that she didn’t know anyone besides Heather. Going to a party where the only person you know isn’t going to spend any time with you wasn’t fun in Veronica’s opinion. Once the two girls arrived at the fraternity Heather was busy making out with her apparent boyfriend as soon as she found him on the building’s front porch. Of course, she did not bother to properly introduce her beau to the black-haired girl. It was only until Veronica cleared her throat that she was able to grab the couple’s attention.

“What?” Heather asked in annoyance. If Veronica was a better friend, she would have told Heather that her lipstick got messed up after kissing her boyfriend. Too bad for Heather Veronica wasn’t a good friend.

“You forgot to tell me where I can find David,” she pointed out while crossing her arms.

Heather almost resembled the blonde Heather with her baffled stare before saying, “Right,” and then looked back at her 20-year-old boyfriend. “Jack, where’s your friend?”

The dark-haired young man chuckled. “You got to be more specific, babe.”

Both girls rolled their eyes. “The one you told me that I can set my friend up with.”

“Oh, right, David should be around here… Oh, yo Dave!” Heather’s boyfriend shouted towards a crowd of people that were inside the house. The head of another guy popped over the small mass of bodies before he pushed himself through and made it to the porch.

“So, this is David. We have English Lit. together,” Jack introduced shortly to Veronica.

Physically David appeared to be a couple years older than Veronica. Nothing about his appearance was too discernable from Jack’s save for the dark auburn hair color and green eyes. Both young men had the same type of ‘I just woke up looking like this and didn’t bother to comb’ hairstyles that seemed to be growing in popularity. Though, it could be they were both just too lazy to freshen themselves up properly.

“Anyway, David here will take very good care of you,” Jack said directly to Veronica but was slowly putting his attention back on his date.

Heather mustered up a fawning smile that Veronica had seen enough times to know it was fake.

“I’m sure my bestie here will be on her best behavior,” Heather honeyed, sounding as though she was referring to a life-long friend. The blink-and-miss-it firm look she gave Veronica was only seen by her.

The look and the dismissive wave were a big enough clue to tell Veronica to leave. She reluctantly followed her date who was already halfway inside the house. The headache Veronica was starting to develop returned with a vengeance as David turned to pick up some beer off a table. While pretending that she was pushing a loose strand of hair back the young woman discreetly rubbed one of her temples, willing the pain away with the best of her abilities. She moved her hand back down to accept the red beer cup David extended to her.

“So, this is your first time here?” David said, already on the awkward small talk.

“What gave me away?” she asked in a flat voice.

“Just that you don’t seem very comfortable,” the college student said, giving her a consoling smile.

Veronica, wondering if his gesture was genuine, composed a slight grin. She took a shy sip from her beer and then had to fight back a grimace at how sour it tasted. The apologetic look David gave her almost made up for the drink. Maybe Heather was right about Remington boys being way different than the ones from school.

“Parties aren’t really my thing,” she admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I love dancing and hearing loud music, but with so many people around…” _Sweaty, rowdy, lusty people._

“It can be a bit overwhelming?” David finished for her.

Veronica nodded. “Yeah. That.”

David’s smile turned more understanding and then he offered, “We can go up to my room. It’s a lot less loud up there.”

Maybe it was the cheap beer talking or the headache, or maybe even something else that convinced Veronica to accept his suggestion. She could really use a quiet place to think properly so the girl accepted David’s offer without thinking too hard about it.

What she didn’t see were the knowing grins and the lewd hand gestures his housemates gave him behind her back while they climbed up the stairs.

* * *

✬JD✬

Traveling through shadows was not the most comfortable experience to JD. Neither was traveling through shadows inside his pet Hell-hamster. It was already confining and tight before, but now stuck inside the stomach of a rodent introduced the demon to the wonderful world of claustrophobia. Yay.

Thankfully the nightmare ended in less than 25 seconds and JD felt Snowball stop moving.

“Are we there yet?” the demon asked impatiently.

He got his answer in the form of his hamster regurgitating him and what was left of his recent kill. JD slammed face first into the grass covered ground. He was tempted to scrap his slimy face against the ground until he noticed that his head was less than five inches away from a pile of dog shit.

Yeah, he’ll just stick to the hamster phlegm.

JD pushed himself far away from the animal feces before standing up and took a gauge around the area he and Snowball ended up in.

“Okay,” he hoarsely started to say before clearing his throat. “Let’s go over the steps one last time that I just made up in my head. First, we’re going to find this fraternity, find the mortal that’s planning to make Veronica his latest conquest, bag said mortal Veronica’s with, take her home and forget this night ever happened.”

“Squeak, squeak.”

“No, I don’t think my plan has any holes in it,” JD said to the skeptical rodent.

The hamster let out another squeak, somehow it sounding even drier than the previous utterance.

“No, I’m not expecting her to just instantly forgive me for everything that I did. Like I would have an ulterior motive with wanting to rescue her,” he denied fervently.

Snowball’s stern look weakened the demon’s unmovable stance.

JD sighed. “Just forget it. We need to find out where the house is.”

The hell-hamster let out another squeak, this one more on the curious side.

“You’re asking me what I’m going to do when I find that man? What do you **think**?” he hissed out the last word, which wasn’t hard as his tongue was no longer human looking.

Snowball squeaked again. That one sounding worried as he watched his master walk away.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Veronica was letting David lead her upstairs away from the main part of the party. Much to her un-surprise she did spy a few partygoers dressed up in some costumes, but nothing as elaborate as the kind little kids wore. Most of them were on the sluttier side, especially what the men wore, ironically enough. David and his friend Jack though were wearing casual clothes with what looked like little to no effort was put into them. It made Veronica annoyed at how much time she spent (read: wasted) on making herself look pretty but not even getting a positive response from it.

_Maybe that kind of thing doesn’t matter once you grow up?_ Veronica’s mind supplied. She hoped that was the case.

“We’re almost there,” David said before a couple of seconds passed and they arrived at a normal looking door. David opened it up and entered. Veronica followed him and was greeted to a college dorm room that was just a tad underwhelming. She wasn’t expecting it to be something grand or even spotless, but she thought it could’ve been a bit bigger than one of the Heather’s walk-in closets. Heck, she felt that hers was bigger than the dorm room.

_Note to self, when I go to college next year, I’m gonna look for a house to rent instead of a dorm,_ Veronica decided in her mind. Her eyes stopped scrutinizing the room once they landed on her date and saw that he was in the process of taking his light jacket **and** shirt off.

“What are you doing?” Veronica asked, getting straight to the point.

David appeared thrown off by Veronica’s question before he answered with, “I was trying to make myself more comfortable.”

“And your idea of comfort is taking your shirt off?” Veronica said, deadpan. “Besides, hasn’t anyone ever taught you that taking your clothes off in front of a lady is bad?”

“Maybe it won’t feel that way if you took yours off?” he said while giving her a once over with an inciting stare.

_Oh, shit._ the black-haired girl thought in realization before berating herself. Of course, that was what David guessed was going to happen when he brought a girl to his room.

“For God’s sake, I’m 17,” Veronica stated, gesturing by stretching out her hands. As she talked David started to move away from his bed and walked towards her. With each step he took Veronica took a step away from him.

“And? Jack told me Heather’s been putting out since last year.”

_Is this guy being serious?_ Veronica thought while she narrowed her eyes. “Comparing me to her like we’re the same person is nonsense. I have as much in common with her as Stevie Nicks does with Madonna.”

David’s lackadaisical attitude soon changed into a more annoyed one. “You don’t have to sound like such a prude.”

“All because I don’t want to have sex with a guy that I just met? Especially one that acts like an over-demanding douche?”

When he started glaring darkly at Veronica, she made the conclusion that she probably should’ve kept that last part to herself. She then felt her back reach the wall right beside the door. Her hand slid over the door handle and attempted to twist it open only to find resistance as the lock stubbornly stayed in place.

Veronica’s eyes widened as her pupils shrunk. She had nowhere to run.

* * *

✬JD✬

“Here I am!” the demon announced as he barged into a building full of young mortals. He then sniffed the air and scowled when he realized it didn’t have Veronica’s scent. “Dammit!”

He slammed the door shut, leaving a loud cracking noise in his wake, and possibly damaging the door in the process. The demon paid no heed to any of the disappointed looks nearby humans gave him as he made his way to another location, hoping this time, this time it was what he was looking for. JD felt another growl threaten to come out as he noticed his nails getting predominantly longer and the itching sensation in his back every time his wings are about to come out.

_Of all the times for my glamour to start failing,_ the demon cursed under his breath as he started to quicken his pace a bit more. The next house he was going to had to be the one she was in. It had to or else he came all this way for nothing.

JD did not want to be too late.

* * *

❦Veronica❦

Her mind became a total blank… She could have found a way to leave if he was at all too drunk to stop her or if the door was unlocked, but no, that wasn’t the case at all. Somehow David was able to corner her away from the door and push her against a wall far on the other side of his room. She wanted to scream but the loud music that she could feel pulsating through the house proved while that would be a futile gesture.

“Please,” she hated herself for begging by this point but couldn’t think of anything else. Veronica was starting to think that no going to any ghosts for help before coming here was terrible idea. She even began thinking that pushing **~~him~~ **JD away was also bad.

The demon had been right from the start. She kept pushing away the people that mattered and now she was alone with nobody to blame but herself.

_Well, except maybe Heather too since she got me in this mess in the first place,_ Veronica thought right as a new idea came to her. _Oh yeah, David’s a guy,_ was what she was thinking right before David brought himself in front of her and then she did the tried-and-true technique that other people in her situation had probably been using since the dawn of man.

Veronica pushed her knee up, hitting David straight where his dick should be and allowed a moment of satisfaction at seeing his face contort from pain and his eyes tearing up.

“You deserve that, bastard.” It was not the cleverest insult Veronica could’ve used, but she wasn’t exactly in a good place to think of a better one. Instead, she used her newfound freedom to slide and run to the other end of the room to get back to the door. The black-haired girl was less than a foot away from escaping when David got over his injury and grabbed Veronica’s arms.

“You little bitch.”

Veronica stiffened but chose not to back down. “You’re not going to get me that easily.”

David smirked. “I believe I already have,” he said before throwing her onto his bed. Veronica grunted after her head hit the headboard, though luckily not enough to leave a bruise. Her luck dried up there and then as the young man dragged himself on top of her, caging her so she can’t escape and pushed her limbs down so she couldn’t hit him again. Veronica felt her heart pound wildly as the fear from before returned.

_If only I was close enough to the window,_ Veronica bemoaned. _Then I could signal someone to help me or scream if I were able to open it._

It actually had been a good thing neither of them were beside David’s curtain covered window. The reason was because a moment later something big, jumped right through the glass, shattering it along with the windowpane. David and Veronica were momentarily distracted by the sound to look where it came from. Something moved wildly through the lump of curtains for a moment until a large sharp claw poked through the fabric and slowly ripped it open like an oversized party bag.

“Hey, that’s my—” David stupidly began to say until he saw the rest of body that the knife-like nail belonged to. Veronica gasped but tried to cover it up with her hand.

Half-sprawled against the floor was a demonic-looking JD with parts of his body slowly leaning towards the animalistic side, illuminated by the room’s dimmed lamplight. He panted heavily as drops of blood slowly appeared underneath the shards that were stuck to his skin.

David was the first to recover from shock and scowled at the demon. “Okay, jackass, I don’t know what kind of costume you’re trying to pull off, but that window is going to cost you,” he said, oblivious to the true danger he was in.

“Ar-are you some kind of idiot?” JD asked, sounding guttural, which made Veronica worried because she never heard him sound like that before. Not even when he fought off that poltergeist.

David got off from Veronica (much to her immense relief) and moved from the bed to confront JD. The demon might’ve been sitting on the ground, but he stood up quickly and towered over the college sophomore. For the first time that night Veronica saw genuine fear in David’s eyes. Veronica held back a shriek as she watched JD lift one of his clawed hands towards David’s head.

“JD, STOP!” she found herself yelling, the shout loud enough to distract JD and look at her in confusion.

“What?”

Veronica thought the same thing to herself a moment later before realizing the truth. As much as she saw David as a colossal dickweed for what he attempted to do to her he still didn’t deserve to die. Get arrested and thrown into prison to rot for attempted rape with a minor, yes, but not be brutally murdered by a demon from Hell. That didn’t seem like true justice for her. “Don’t kill him,” she instructed.

JD was stunned by her request for a moment before he rolled his red and brown eyes and lifted his arm even higher.

“NO!” Without putting much thought into it, Veronica leaped from the bed and rushed towards JD and wrapped her arms around his middle waist. She didn’t have the strength to knock him down but her actions were enough to make him stop.

“JD,” she paused, waiting for his breathing to regulate. “It’s going to be okay now. You stopped David from hurting me.”

  
  
“It’s not enough,” the demon growled. “He needs to suffer for what he did to you.”

“You don’t need to do this. I’m safe.”

“No, not while he’s alive,” he further protested.

“What if someone hears you?” she proposed. “And then what will you do after if someone else saw you kill him? Just keep killing everyone else here?”

The demon growled but stared straight at her.

“You’ll be seen and viewed as the thing you look like right now. A monster.”

JD staggered, taking a step back that almost caused Veronica to trip. To her surprise he appeared scandalized. Almost as though what she said left an impression on him. She then saw him looking at his fluctuating appearance and shook her off without warning. The demon didn’t spare her a look before breaking the door and running through it. Veronica heard people yelp in alarm but nothing worse. She spared a glance at David’s direction and found him kneeling in a catatonic state.

Veronica felt no remorse towards the young man, choosing to never think of him ever again. She then decided to go do something a bit more reckless than following an older guy to his room.

She ran after JD.

The black-haired girl was at the bottom of the stairs when she heard a familiar voice through the crowd.

“Veronica? Where the hell are you?” Veronica paused mid-step as panic set in.

_Crap,_ the girl mentally curse. She **really** couldn’t deal with Heather right now. Without a second thought Veronica ran inside the first door she found unlocked and ended up inside a closet. Much to her relief there was no one else inside and the only issue she had besides a small space was the faint smell of pot.

_Just ignore it, Veronica. You won’t be staying too long in here… I hope._

“VER-RON-I-CA!” She heard Heather shout right beside the door. “Where the fuck did that idiot go?” the redhead muttered, of the black-haired girl less than five feet from her. Veronica held her breath while she waited for Heather to leave and listened carefully for the sound of shoes stomping by. Veronica then wasted no time to get out of the house.

The backyard was almost vacant, allowing her to everything. Including a large blotch of red on the grass.

_Is that…_ Before Veronica could think the whole statement, her hand touched the red and was surprised to see that it didn’t remotely have the same density as blood.

“Dude, what happened to the snow cone machine.” Veronica’s ears picked up. The completely drugged out college student’s question piqued the girl’s interest and she looked to see two young adults standing over a small ice maker with spilled bottles of various food colorings and flavors.

“I think some dog might’ve crashed into it?” his equally inebriated friend said, sounding totally clueless.

It took Veronica two seconds to figure out what really happened along with noticing another blotch of red on the grass with countless more in front of it. She followed the trail of red food coloring leading her to a children’s park several blocks away. When she arrived in the eerily looking playground (with screeching roundabout and a seesaw seemingly moving on their own) the girl found nothing to prove of JD’s presence. When her shoes scrunched loudly against the gravel, she heard a slight hissing noise.

“I know you’re here, JD. Just come out already.” When Veronica didn’t hear anything she tried again, that time she succeeded in garnering a response after making a snarky comment about her date.

“So,” a voice came from the shadowy bushes beside the swing-set. “My looks were enough to turn him into a vegetable? Well, I guess my father was right about one thing, I am too hideous for mortal company.”

“If this is about what I said earlier—”

JD cut her off with a laugh. “Not everything is about you, you know. I’ve had a whole life of abuse and persecution before meeting you. It’ll take more than calling me a monster to set me off.”

Veronica frowned as a new thought came to her. “Then why did you run away?” she asked him.

“Because I can’t hide my true form. My powers are spent and so is my ability to hide what I really look like is gone.”

“Isn’t there a way to turn you back?”

“I need energy,” he answered succinctly.

“Oh,” Veronica’s mouth formed a small ‘o’. She understood right away what he meant. The young woman held back a sigh of disgruntlement before saying, “Well, I’m going to need you to come into the light so I can see you.”

“You’re aren’t going to like what you see.”

“Unless you’re an eldritch horror from a Lovecraftian novel, I think I’ll be okay,” she said with her hands on her hips.

Veronica heard JD mutter, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” before she saw movement from the bushes. Under the light of a streetlamp Veronica saw a shape step out. Once she saw the full outline a gasp escaped from her throat.

Standing on four legs was a large ebony furred deer with giant antlers and red eyes. That wasn’t what caused her to gasp though. It was the large wings and feathery tail the deer had that caught Veronica off guard. Oh, and the shadow shaped like JD’s human form threw her off a bit.

“What the Hell are you supposed to be? _Bambi_ ’s cousin if his parents were a deer and an owl?” she ended up saying once she found her composure.

The black buck frowned as best as he could with his little mouth. “I’m a Peryton-based demon. I didn’t choose to look like this.”

“A perry-what?” She never heard that word before in her entire life.

“Nothing,” the deer-demon shook his antlered head dismissively before looking back at her. “Are you okay? That whole thing back at the house was…” he trailed off before mustering an uncomfortable look.

Veronica held a depressed look of her own. “I just want to go home now. But I came here with Heather and I don’t want to deal with her.” She glanced at him. “I don’t suppose you could teleport us back?” Veronica racked her brain before remembering something she saw on the way to the campus. “Right outside the last line of dormitories I think I spotted a bus stop. Hopefully they’ll still be doing their rounds tonight. Can we just do that?” She didn’t have her Swatch to tell the time because Heather told her it didn’t go with her outfit.

Veronica decided then and there that she wasn’t going to listen to Heather ever again. Hell, after tonight she was planning to resign from the Lipstick Gestapo.

JD considered her request and to her surprise he nodded. “Sure, if you don’t want me to use my magic.”

Veronica shook her head. “No more magic tonight for me.”

“Um,” she said, hesitating, “Do I need to—you know—kiss you for you to be able to shift back into your human form?”

“I would appreciate that if you did,” JD said.

The girl did her best to hold back a grimace. “This won’t count as bestiality, will it?”

“Darling, would it make you feel better if I will enough energy to make myself look moderately human?”

Veronica narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “If you can still make yourself look human why do you need me?”

“Because I’ll only be able to make it last about ten seconds before my full energy is spent and then possibly die.” When he noticed the horrified look, she was expressing he smirked. “Now you know why I’m choosing to stay in this form.”

“Fine, I’ll just close my eyes,” she said, trying very hard not to sound whiny.

* * *

✬JD✬

After going through that humiliating experience both the mortal and demon agreed to never speak about it ever again. The two then settled that the next course of action was to get the Hell out of Remington and head back for Sherwood to push this horrible nightmare away from them as possible. And so, Veronica and JD in a newly returned human form walked out of the woods and then traveled along a sidewalk under the light of the streetlamps beneath the cloudy night

“I’m shocked that I’m not seeing any ghosts tonight,” Veronica said as they walked towards the direction of the bus station. “Usually, Halloween is their version of Christmas.”

“They must be acting wary because of me,” JD rationalized. “You know, because demons like to eat essence of mortals and that’s what ghosts are made of.”

“Right,” she said, nodding in understanding.

“For the record, about earlier, I’m not technically breaking the order you placed on me,” the demon denied. “I just so happened to be in this neighborhood tonight and heard there was a party here, so I thought—”

“Just shut JD,” Veronica cut him off. She looked at him with a relieved smile and said, “Your timing was perfect for once.”

Some foreign feeling appeared in JD again before the rest of her words reached his mind. “What do you mean my timing was perfect for once? I also saved you from the poltergeist, didn’t I?” he asked indignantly.

For the first time that night the demon heard Veronica laugh. A hidden part of himself smiled as she did. He was pleased to see that the girl he ~~lo~~ knew wasn’t afraid to act like her old self again. JD noticed her spirit brightening even further once they saw the light of the bus station a few yards ahead.

“Hey JD?”

“Yes?”

“Why do you smell like wet roadkill?”

“You don’t want to know,” was all he said in a very distant voice. “You don’t want to know.” It was also the reason why he didn’t summon back Snowball. Because he knew Veronica wouldn’t want to travel back to her home the way he did.

**End of Chapter 20**

* * *

**Q-A:** Well, that’s the end for now. Next chapter will be about them returning home on the bus while finally having a much-needed conversation on a few things that both need to talk about.

I apologize again if that scene between Veronica and David triggered anyone. I tried to keep it not too graphic (since writing that kind of stuff makes me super uncomfortable anyway) but unfortunately that won’t be the only scene like that in this story. There is another one coming up in a later chapter, but I’ll be sure to leave a warning like this one.

Anyway, thank you all so much for being so understanding about me not being able to update last week. That storm was snowstorm terrible and I’m glad that it’s long gone now.

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


	22. “Kaets detalucaje eht tae ot stnaw ydobon!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Think of this chapter like that bus scene from ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse’ but with more shipping fuel and less has-been superhero listening in.

❦Veronica❦

For the first time Veronica could think she was grateful for the demon. Unlike her dumbass self who forgot to bring money in her wallet that night JD had a large stack of $2 bills, which she had no idea were even real, and used them to pay for the tickets they needed to pay for a one-way trip back to Sherwood. The ebony-haired girl wasn’t sure if she was relieved that she and the demon weren’t the only people inside the bus that night. Three other passengers were inside with them: some guy in his mid-twenties with an overnight bag using two seats as a makeshift bed in the middle of the buss and an elderly couple sitting right near the door. Veronica and JD opted to sit in the far back without needing to speak to each other about it. She had a feeling the demon shared her sentiments about not wanting to be bothered by anyone else. They didn’t have to wait for very long until the bus moved.

Veronica let out a small sigh after sinking into the moquette upholstered chair and noticing that it wasn’t the same as the plush leather seats in Heather’s Porsche. In her opinion she would rather take a bus that smelled like her father’s ashtrays than any of the Heathers cars ever again. Hell, she would much rather ride with JD on his motorcycle.

Speaking of the devil Veronica turned her head to the right and looked over the aisle where JD was attempting to make himself comfortable with amusing results. First, he tried to use the small lever to adjust his seat that all the chairs had. She watched as he discovered that his lever apparently was unable to work properly. Then saw him rest his legs across the two seats he was occupying but couldn’t with the armrest in the way and was starting to grumble a lot louder.

Veronica, one part worried of other people hearing and the other part worried for the blameless furniture, got up from her seat and walked over to where the demon was. But right as she was less than four feet from JD he started to recoil and visibly held himself back from yelling.

“Get back,” he hissed lowly enough for only her to hear.

The black-haired girl took a step back and was partly relieved to see him cease his withering in pain.

“What was that all about?” she asked him.

He glared at her and snapped, “Somebody ordered me to stay clear of her and that means if she were to come within three feet of me, I’ll be punished with my insides feeling like they’re being dunked into the River Styx.”

Veronica blinked a couple of times as she tried to process what he said. “So, I’m guessing that Styx is very painful?”

“Severely,” he answered with a strained voice.

A sudden sense of guilt washed over the girl as she bit her lower lip. “Oh… is there a chance I can revoke it?” That idea never once crossed her mind until that moment.

It was JD’s turn to blink at her before he replied, “Yes. All you need to say is, ‘I, blank, hereby revoke my previous command for now and forever.’”

“That’s all I need to do?” she asked in surprise.

The demon nodded, looking a little stunned himself. “Yeah.”

Veronica glanced to the front to make sure no one was watching and said, “I, Veronica Sawyer, herby revoke my previous command for now and forever.” She had closed her eyes momentarily and waited for something, anything big to happen but found herself just standing in the middle of the bus’s aisle like an idiot.

“What? Were you expecting some big storm of thunder and lightning to show up?” the demon asked as though he was reading her mind.

Veronica blushed with embarrassment. “No,” she pitifully denied. “Anyway, are you okay?”

“I think so. You can try leaning over just to make sure it worked,” he suggested.

The seventeen-year-old instead just moved her hand forward until it was two feet away from him. JD didn’t wince like before and instead held an amused look while watching her wiggle her fingers momentarily. Veronica then pulled her head back, giving the demon an annoyed look.

“Lady, are you going to sit down or what?” Veronica overheard the bus driver call out. She promptly went back to her seat, hoping that no one saw her face getting red. Her cheeks turned a deep scarlet when JD snickered.

Things became quiet after that humiliating experience. The only sounds that Veronica heard came from the bus’s engine and the wind coming from a window that was slightly opened. She wondered how much time had passed since the drive began. Probably less than ten minutes by her calculation, meaning that she had another 35 minutes to go before they would all arrive in Sherwood.

Veronica puffed at a strand of hair that ended up on her face, trying to move it away before opting to do it manually. Out of total boredom she lazily moved her eyes around, straying away from a spot before moving to a new one. She looked at the bus driver but barely saw much aside from his sweaty back. When she got tired of looking at him for a straight minute the girl glanced at the elderly couple and noticed both were fast asleep. Oh, how envious she was of people being able to do that while a vehicle was in motion. Her eyes then moved over to look at the lone college kid and started to wonder what his story was when she heard a sneeze. She looked to her right to see that it was none other than JD. Instead of wiping his nose with a sleeve as she expected he pulled out a ratty-looking handkerchief and rubbed it over the lower part of his face.

“Ever thought of getting a new tissue?” Veronica snarked at him.

“Probably should, this thing is older than the Great War,” the demon sounded like he was joking but Veronica wasn’t always sure with him.

“Great war?” she repeated in confusion.

“I think it’s now called World War I,” he elaborated.

“Oh.” Veronica shrunk, suddenly feeling foolish.

“You didn’t know that?” His tone wasn’t mean-spirted, he instead sounded surprised.

“History isn’t my best subject at school,” she had no choice but admitted.

“What is?”

She did a double take. “What?”

“What’s your best subject?” he asked the question again.

Veronica gave him a skeptical glare. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Because I’m curious and this is a long bus ride with nothing else better to do.”

“…. English,” she slowly revealed, not sure why.

“Are there any classes you wish you could take instead of history?” the demon wondered.

She mulled over the question before saying, “If I could pick anything, I would like there to be an elective where I could learn more about photography.”

“Really?” JD asked while tilting his head, looking very interested.

Veronica nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know why I like it so much. I guess I was never really that great at drawing so I wanted to find something else artsy related that I liked and found myself drawn to it.

“You can’t be that bad at drawing,” he said.

Veronica pursed her lips. “Well, if you ever want a stick-figure of just about anything I’m your girl.”

The demon laughed without any malice. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Are there any subjects at school that you like?” she asked suddenly.

“I don’t really pay all that much attention to be frank,” he admitted with no hint of guilt.

“How are you not expelled?” Veronica questioned him.

“I just know the subjects pretty well. And I might be influencing some of the teachers to give me good grades,” he was forced to reveal after she gave him a glowering look.

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

“Look, I need to focus on other things beside school,” he said dismissively. “Like making sure other demons leave you alone.”

Veronica frowned before tilting her head in confusion. “So, you aren’t just protecting me from poltergeists now?”

“Darling, I’ve been protecting you from demons since our contract was formalized.”

“What? Really?” She never noticed. She was so busy by that revelation that she didn’t bother correcting him to not call her darling. 

“The truth is your ghost friends came to me on my first night at the Dean House was because they sensed a demon in your room,” he confessed. JD must’ve noticed Veronica’s gaping look before he continued, “It was an incubus that fed off your dreams. I killed him before he did anything worse. Then I came across a manticore and ax-faced pair of demons that were following your scent on the day you went inside that house with the poltergeist.”

Veronica felt her jaw drop. “Why didn’t you tell any of this?”

“You never asked?” he teased before she gave him a stern expression that caused him to flinch. “I didn’t want you to get scared,” the demon said wholeheartedly. “You seemed to already have a lot of other problems on your plate. The last thing I wanted was for you to worry over something that’s out of your control.”

“What do you mean by that?” Could that be the reason her sleep patterns had felt so normal?

“The reason the demons are able to find you so well is because of the energy you emit as a Medium. It’s amplified even more since you’re also a virgin,” JD went onto explain.

Veronica was getting really tired of people using that word. “What is it about me being a virgin that makes me so appealing to demons? Wouldn’t they want to go after a girl that has… experience?”

“Hmmm, okay so let’s hypothetically compare a virgin maiden to a steak.”

“You’re comparing me to meat?” Veronica said sounding very offended.

“A hypothetical virgin, not you.” JD reminded her. He then resumed his previous stance of acting like a college professor giving a standard lecture. “Now this ‘steak’ isn’t just any steak but the juiciest, flavorful sirloin you’ve ever seen. It’s right there on a big plate and you have a knife and fork, ready to take your first bite when this asshole comes in, takes his dick out of his pants and jizzes all over the steak. Nobody wants to eat the ejaculated steak, Veronica.”

“… Do you have any idea how messed up that sounds?”

“Demons, remember?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “You’re disgusting.”

“I’m a demon. How many times do I have to keep telling you that? Look, I don’t like that kind of mentality either but that’s how most demons behave. That’s what they’ve been thinking for centuries. Look the point is you’re going to continue being a metaphorical lamp to demon moths unless you…”

“Unless I… put out?”

“Yeah.” He looked just as discomforted as Veronica felt at that moment.

“…. Will it make all the demons leave me alone?” she hesitantly asked.

JD raised a hand, wiggled it sideways while answering, “Roughly 50% of them might.”

Veronica groaned and shoved a hand over her face. “Like that’s any better?”

“It’s not my fault you’re an extremely powerful Medium. Demons love feasting on abnormal humans.”

Veronica squirmed uncomfortably. “Don’t say it like that.”

The light in JD’s eyes faded before he looked away. “Sorry.”

With the levels of awkwardness rising Veronica decided to change the subject to a more pleasant topic. “What about you? What subject would rather learn?”

The demon was quiet for a while before answering, “Necromancy.”

_So much for pleasant._ She thought while furrowing her brows. “Like in _Evil Dead_?”

“Evil what?”

_Right, he doesn’t know anything from after 1919._ Veronica remembered. “It was this movie that came out years ago,” she explained to him. “It had this book in it that had the power to raise the dead.”

“You don’t need a book where I come from,” he said, knowingly looking at her. “There are demons who’ve learned that kind of dark magic since Anarchaic Times.”

“I think you mean **Archaic** Times,” she assumedly corrected him.

JD raised a brow at her. “Oh no. Anarchaic was the period when demons ran the world while humans were the lesser beings in servitude to them.”

The seventeen-year-old held an incredulous stare. “Was this before God and the angels came into being?”

“Darling, He and his angels were around back then, too.”

“Well, if God’s supposed to be a benevolent good guy why would he let humanity suffer?”

JD sighed tiredly, as though she had asked a dumb question. “I’ll tell you why. It’s because He was too busy running the rest of the universe to keep one eye on some puny planet in the Solar System. It wasn’t until He heard one of His personal angels started to cause a bit of so-called mischief that He directly intervened and punished that angel for messing with the ‘natural order’ and had to look after the Earth for now on after that whole mess. And to make sure his former favorite angel won’t try to get out from his prison in the Earth’s core.”

Veronica felt her mind swarm from all that new information. “From what I remembered in church I don’t think that whole thing happened like that.”

“Were you reading a certain book that humans who weren’t there millions of years ago wrote or one that had been written by someone who actually did see all that shit go down.”

The young woman frowned, trying hard not to look like she was pouting. “How do you know if what you’re saying is the truth?”

“It sounds more logical to me.”

“Well, you are a demon.”

“But why would you want to learn how to resurrect the dead. I’ve seen enough dead people to last me a lifetime.”

“I want to see my mum,” he answered, sounding quieter than earlier

“What happened to her?” she asked. When Veronica saw him frown, she then added, “But don’t tell me if you don’t want to. I don’t want it to be an order that you **have** to say. Don’t say anything if you don’t want to.”

JD looked at her for a long minute with an emotionless stare before resting his hands over his ring looped in his chain. “Her name was Lilith Fiona Dean. She was born in Ireland in some village that probably doesn’t exist anymore. She was forced to leave and go to England after getting banished.”

“What was she banished for?” she asked, becoming very invested in the story.

“… For having a child out of wedlock.”

Veronica raised a hand over her mouth before looking down. “Was she…?”

“She wasn’t raped if that’s what you’re asking. My mum met this man who came to her village one day. He wore fancy black clothes, had a slight accent, looked handsome. All the women flocked to him like sheep, but he had his eyes set for Lilith. He claimed that he would take her away to make her his wife and promised all sorts of jewels and other treasures while they courted. He visited her every day until suddenly he stopped coming.” The demon scowled. “It was conveniently around the time she found out she was pregnant. And since she was born in a time period where that’s considered one of the absolute worst sins a woman could do her parents kicked her out of their house and the rest of the town shunned her.

“My mum had no choice but to leave, especially when she found out who really was the man she fell in love with,” JD said, fuming. “He was no man but a demon possessing some poor human as his vessel. One of the Seven worst you could ever meet. He tried to get her to stay with him until she had her child, but he was only doing that just to see if the kid was going to be like him. She went to find help and was given aid by a Witches coven who helped smuggle her to England, hoping it would be far enough for him not to follow. They were wrong. He eventually found us and took us away to his domain down Below for a few centuries. Somehow my mother was still alive during that whole time. My guess was that being down Below made her unable to age until she was back in the Mortal Plain. I aged, but at a slower rate because I was part-demon. Anyway, we were imprisoned down there until we found a way out and tried running away to what humans would later call America. Stayed in a small town for about a century until…”

“Until what?” Veronica asked when he stopped abruptly.

“Until she killed herself,” the demon said finally.

Veronica moved back into her seat, staring at the seats in front of her. A part of her had suspected that something terrible happened to JD’s mother. It would easily explain why he didn’t like to talk about her the last time she asked. But never would she even consider his own mom would take her own life.

“Can-can you explain what happened?” she nervously asked.

“We were living in this large house, the only one of its kind in the neighborhood,” he started to say with a sad nostalgic expression. “It was our second attempt at a fresh start, a chance to live as normal as we could, and I thought everything was going alright. But then, then one day she told me to go in my human disguise and buy something from the drugstore for her. It was just something for her tea, so I didn’t think too much about leaving her for an hour. The last thing I saw her do before I left was waving me goodbye from the window.”

He paused to take a huge gulp of air. Veronica tried to offer him to stop but he insisted on finishing the story.

“When I came back the house felt silent. There was nothing. No music from our phonograph, no singing from her, nothing. So, I ran inside and found her… her neck hanging from a noose made from rope. There was a note nearby with her signature on it, but I burned it. I knew whatever bullshit excuse she had for taking her life would never make up for what she did.”

Veronica was taken aback all over again. Everything that JD told her just felt so raw and open. She wasn’t sure how she could respond to that. There had been plenty of suicide stories she had read and watched about on the News, but never one coming from a person she was beginning to know. She figured saying, ‘I’m sorry’ wouldn’t do much for JD. It wouldn’t change the fact that his mother was gone. There had to be something else to get him to focus on something less depressing. She knew very well what happened to people who dwelled too long on upsetting thoughts. 

She went with asking him the first thing that came to her mind. “I’m sorry about asking an off-topic question but why was your… father,” she settled with calling him, “using a human as a host? Don’t other demons like yourself just show up on Earth? Why couldn’t he do that?”

“There’s this law that was set up long ago after the war between the Angels and Demons ended. After my Boss’ side lost the Man Upstairs told him that he—meaning my Boss—and his top six generals were eternally banished to down Below. My Boss swore he and his followers would find a way back to Earth and when they did down Below would literally break loose.”

“You mean, it would be the end of the world?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah, if my Boss and his six Lords ever set even a single toe on the Mortal Plain Armageddon would literally start right after that.”

“Oh,” was all Veronica could say.

“So, to get around that rule the Lords sometimes take control of whatever human that happens to catch their interest by using some ritual to bind their soul like a parasite and leave when they’re done with whatever mayhem they’ve cooked up. That was how my father visited my mother and they… well, I think you know the rest.”

JD’s sullen expression came back, and Veronica felt like she only made things worse. She racked her brain with something else that would be better at cheering him up, but sadly the ebony-haired woman knew almost jack-shit on what he liked. Veronica really could only count with one hand the number of things she knew the demon enjoyed. She supposed he liked to read, mess with people (mostly her), his pet hamster and obviously sex-slash-lust. There had to be something else.

“Could you tell me more about your mom?” _Dammit, what are you thinking, Veronica?_ she thought, berating herself.

“Like what?” he asked. Much to her shock JD didn’t sound so upset as before. She decided to go along with this sudden development and asked, “What did she like to do, her hobbies, interests, favorite food?”

The demon’s lips slowly formed a crooked grin. “I don’t think I ever asked what her favorite food was. I know she liked to make a lot of different types of food with pork in it.”

“Oh?” Veronica felt like giving herself a gold star after seeing JD’s sad look disappearing bit by bit.

“She liked stories and would always tell me a different story before I went to sleep. Sometimes from her home and others she found from other people. I think she even wanted to learn how to read but couldn’t because the priest in the village in Essex was sexist and didn’t think women could do that.”

“That guy is now my new least favorite person,” Veronica offered, which caused JD to chuckle. She smiled in self-satisfaction.

“She made a name for herself with her skills as a seamstress, though.” He caressed the fabric on his jacket sleeve. “This coat here, was something she made for me.”

“Really? How has it managed to stay intact all these years?”

“It was enchanted by the coven of Witches that helped her out,” the demon explained. “They used a spell that makes sure the fabric stays strong and won’t deteriorate. It used to protect me while I was a child until my powers were fully mastered. Saved my life more times than I can count,” he recalled wistfully.

“Does it still work?” she asked while continuing to eye the coat unabashedly.

“It doesn’t have its protective shield like it used to,” he said. “Once I could control my magic it went away. Now I have to use my own powers to keep the jacket from being destroyed.”

“It really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“Along with the glamour charm necklace it’s the only personal thing I have left of her,” JD said, looking down.

_Even after killing herself JD still misses his mom,_ Veronica realized. _Reminds me of someone I know. Well, since he told me something personal, I guess it’s time I return the favor._

“You know that journal you read without my permission?” she asked him a moment later.

“How many times do I have to apologize for that?”

His sincerely sad sound sigh coupled with an indignant look almost made her laugh. “I like seeing you squirm.”

JD shuddered. “Who’s the demon now?”

Veronica rolled her eyes at him. “That journal was one of the first gifts my friend gave to me.”

“Your friend?”

“Martha.”

The demon furrowed his brows. “I thought you didn’t like to talk about her?”

She sighed and nodded. “But since you told me about your mom the least, I can do is tell you about my personal baggage. It will explain why I don’t—why I didn’t want to break ties with the Heathers.”

“You mean you’re changing your mind about that?” His tone sounded hopeful.

“Yeah,” she admitted for the first time. “But first I want to tell you why I was so scared.”

JD adjusted his body until he was looking right at her, showing his undivided attention.

Veronica swallowed a small lump down her throat and took a deep breath.

“It all started in a bathroom stall on the first Friday of my Junior year.”

**End of Chapter 21**

* * *

**Q-A:** I think you know what’s going to happen in the next chapter, right? We’re gonna get down on what happened to Martha and why Veronica ~~is~~ was so adamant on staying with the Heathers. I don’t have anything else to say so bye for now!

~Please give comments, kudos, maybe make a bookmark and subscribe. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my abilities. :D And be sure to…

Keep on Writin’ and Rockin’


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